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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rash — a series
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. kid — child
  5. perch — the fish
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. degree — an amount
  12. club — for dancing
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. land — to come down
  16. club — for golf
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — to tease
  21. club — a group
  22. rash — hasty
  23. land — a country
  24. rash — on the skin

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