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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 124 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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468
Word bank
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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cold — an illness
  3. key — the most important part
  4. spell — letters
  5. key — for a lock
  6. row — a line
  7. spell — magic
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. dip — to sink
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — of the year
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — not warm
  14. key — in music
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. spell — a short time
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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