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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. ball — a dance
  3. scale — size or range
  4. race — a contest
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. land — ground
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ball — a great time
  10. race — humankind
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. lean — thin
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. land — a country
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. perch — the fish
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. land — to come down
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. racket — for tennis

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