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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. dip — to sink
  9. file — a line of people
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. pop — to visit
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pop — soda
  17. file — a tool
  18. perch — the fish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pop — music
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. game — a match
  23. cold — an illness
  24. game — a kind of play

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