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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. kid — child
  3. fall — to drop
  4. can — to be able to
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — to wash
  10. can — a tin
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rock — music
  16. shower — rain
  17. perch — the fish
  18. can — a tin
  19. kid — to tease
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fall — the season
  22. deal — to handle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rock — a stone

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