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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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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. land — to come down
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. cell — in biology
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. land — a country
  10. root — of a plant
  11. land — ground
  12. root — the cause
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — a tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. root — of a word
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. perch — for a bird

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