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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. perch — the fish
  3. tear — to rip
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. spring — the season
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — of the year
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. season — in sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — the animal
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. squash — to crush
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rash — hasty
  21. spring — of water
  22. track — to keep track
  23. squash — the sport
  24. spring — a coil

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