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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. spell — letters
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spell — magic
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. squash — the sport
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wax — to grow
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. kid — to tease
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — wild animals
  16. perch — the fish
  17. kid — child
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. game — a match
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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