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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — a coil
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a lid
  7. saw — the tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. field — a subject
  13. saw — the tool
  14. field — for sport
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spring — the season
  17. field — farmland
  18. kid — child
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. spring — of water
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cap — a hat

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