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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. stock — shares
  6. last — to go on
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. last — final
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. net — after costs
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bat — the animal
  13. lean — thin
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. file — a document
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. lean — to bend
  21. last — finally
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. file — a tool
  24. stock — goods

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