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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 124 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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. row — a line
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rash — a series
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. squash — to crush
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bark — to shout
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cell — in biology
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. row — to paddle
  20. perch — the fish
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — hasty
  24. wound — an injury

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