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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. plane — a tool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. root — of a plant
  11. roll — a list
  12. row — to paddle
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. root — of a word
  17. row — a line
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. root — the cause

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