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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wake — a trail
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mate — to breed
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mate — a friend
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mate — a partner
  19. saw — the tool
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. saw — the tool
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. sharp — with an edge

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