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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ground — a position
  8. net — for catching
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. land — a country
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. land — ground
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. game — a match
  17. ground — the earth
  18. net — in sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — to come down
  21. net — after costs
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com