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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. last — final
  5. track — a path
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. wake — a trail
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. track — a song
  13. perch — the fish
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. last — finally
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. last — to go on
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chair — a leader
  22. row — to paddle
  23. track — to keep track
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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