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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bulb — for light
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. band — a music group
  15. kick — in football
  16. game — a match
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bulb — for light
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. spring — of water
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wound — an injury

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