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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. shower — to wash
  3. band — a ring
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. scale — size or range
  6. band — a music group
  7. shower — rain
  8. last — to go on
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. game — wild animals
  11. current — happening now
  12. last — finally
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. scale — in music
  15. last — final
  16. current — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — a match
  23. fall — to drop
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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