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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — a container
  5. club — for golf
  6. ground — the earth
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — a group
  10. perch — the fish
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tube — the underground
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. prune — to trim
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. ground — a position
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — music

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