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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. perch — the fish
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. season — of the year
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wound — an injury
  13. last — final
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stock — goods
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stock — shares
  20. last — to go on
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — finally
  24. saw — the tool

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