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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. fall — to drop
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wake — a trail
  11. foot — a measure
  12. fall — the season
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. perch — the fish
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. perch — for a bird

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