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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tear — from crying
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. perch — the fish
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. squash — the sport
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. tear — to rip
  13. snap — to click
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pop — to visit
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. squash — to crush
  18. court — for sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pop — music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pop — soda

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