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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. wake — a trail
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wind — moving air
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. sharp — clever
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. shower — rain
  10. swing — music
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. ground — the earth
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. shower — to wash
  21. perch — the fish
  22. swing — to play on
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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