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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. spring — the season
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. game — a match
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. game — wild animals
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spring — of water
  14. perch — the fish
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cold — the Cold War

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