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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — music
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. can — a tin
  9. row — to paddle
  10. march — the month
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. cold — not warm
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wound — an injury
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cold — an illness
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. march — the month
  24. row — a line

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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