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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. ground — crushed
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cap — a lid
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. ground — a position
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. season — of the year
  12. game — a match
  13. perch — the fish
  14. shower — rain
  15. season — in sport
  16. game — wild animals
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. cap — a hat
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cap — of ice

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