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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — a law
  5. squash — the sport
  6. file — a document
  7. squash — to crush
  8. track — a path
  9. track — a song
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rule — government
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. file — a tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. track — to keep track
  21. capital — money
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bat — the animal
  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