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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. track — a song
  3. present — a gift
  4. track — a path
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — help
  7. root — of a word
  8. track — to keep track
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cell — a phone
  12. root — the cause
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. present — there
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — humankind
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cell — in biology
  20. present — the time now
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — the arms race
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. root — of a plant

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