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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. spell — magic
  2. shower — to wash
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. squash — the sport
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spell — letters
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. chest — a box
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. spell — a short time
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — to shout
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bark — of a tree
  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