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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. ground — a position
  3. band — a music group
  4. spring — a coil
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. sharp — clever
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — the season
  13. perch — the fish
  14. mark — a grade
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. ground — the earth
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. spring — of water
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — not warm
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. band — a ring
  24. racket — a loud noise

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