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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 120 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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — for digging
  4. perch — the fish
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. file — a tool
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bulb — for light
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. bulb — for light
  20. foot — a measure
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. file — a document

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