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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. last — to go on
  3. net — for catching
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. perch — the fish
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. roll — a cake
  10. last — final
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. roll — a list
  13. fine — all right
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chip — to eat
  16. net — in sport
  17. chip — for betting
  18. net — after costs
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. last — finally
  23. file — a line of people
  24. roll — on a roll

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