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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — the fish
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. drill — the tool
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. dip — to sink
  15. drill — army training
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — a hole
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rush — hurry
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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