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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. net — for catching
  3. row — a line
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. net — in sport
  6. shower — to wash
  7. march — music
  8. scale — in music
  9. net — after costs
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — in a race
  13. cold — not warm
  14. shower — rain
  15. march — the month
  16. pit — a hole
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. row — to paddle
  20. perch — the fish
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. perch — for a bird

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