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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ball — a great time
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. cold — an illness
  18. tube — a container
  19. rush — hurry
  20. chest — a box
  21. tube — the underground
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. chest — of your body
  24. perch — the fish

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