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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 120 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. land — ground
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. file — a document
  6. rash — hasty
  7. file — a tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. scale — size or range
  10. perch — the fish
  11. firm — a company
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. firm — steady
  14. firm — decided
  15. scale — in music
  16. land — a country
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rash — a series
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. land — to come down
  24. scale — for weighing

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