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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. season — of the year
  3. chest — of your body
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. plane — a tool
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. present — the time now
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. present — there
  16. field — for sport
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. season — in sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. present — a gift
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. leaves — of a tree

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