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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. perch — the fish
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. court — for sport
  12. rest — what's left
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bass — low music
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. bass — the fish
  19. scale — size or range
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. court — of law
  23. rest — what's left
  24. lie — to recline

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