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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — for catching
  8. cap — of ice
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. court — for sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. degree — temperature
  18. court — of law
  19. degree — from a university
  20. court — of a king
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. degree — an amount

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