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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. swing — in golf
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. drill — the tool
  5. stem — to come from
  6. land — to come down
  7. perch — the fish
  8. file — a tool
  9. land — a country
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. drill — army training
  12. scale — size or range
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. swing — music
  17. land — ground
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. swing — to play on
  20. file — a document
  21. drill — a practice
  22. scale — in music
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stem — a stem cell

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