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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. land — a country
  4. season — in sport
  5. suit — in cards
  6. land — to come down
  7. spring — the season
  8. suit — to fit
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. game — a match
  13. spring — of water
  14. land — ground
  15. bat — the animal
  16. suit — clothes
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. season — of the year
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. perch — the fish
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. leaves — of a tree

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