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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. bound — certain
  3. perch — the fish
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — an illness
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. game — a match
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. roll — a cake
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. face — to confront
  22. roll — a list
  23. game — wild animals
  24. face — to point toward

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