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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. net — in sport
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. net — for catching
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. mark — a grade
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. kid — to tease
  20. race — a contest
  21. toast — bread
  22. perch — the fish
  23. mark — a trace
  24. perch — for a bird

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