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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. march — music
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. march — the month
  7. wake — a trail
  8. present — a gift
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. present — there
  11. cap — of ice
  12. scale — in music
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. lean — thin
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. lean — to bend
  21. cap — a hat
  22. present — the time now
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cap — a lid

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