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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. game — wild animals
  4. scale — size or range
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cell — in biology
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — a phone
  14. scale — in music
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — tied together
  17. prune — to trim
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. prune — to trim
  20. game — a match
  21. court — of law
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bound — certain
  24. prune — the fruit

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