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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rash — hasty
  4. perch — the fish
  5. degree — an amount
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. suit — in cards
  10. cold — an illness
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. suit — to fit
  15. roll — a cake
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. roll — a list
  19. degree — from a university
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chip — for betting
  23. suit — clothes
  24. rash — a series

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