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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. squash — the sport
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. craft — boats
  7. ground — crushed
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wound — an injury
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ground — a position
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ground — the earth
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. craft — a skill
  23. kid — child
  24. band — a music group

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