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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 116 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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mate — a friend
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. rash — hasty
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. land — a country
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a partner
  15. track — a path
  16. wake — a trail
  17. track — to keep track
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. tube — a container
  21. track — a song
  22. rash — a series
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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