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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 116 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — moving air
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. plane — a tool
  5. hand — help
  6. swing — in golf
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fork — in a road
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. swing — to play on
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — a coil
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. swing — music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. perch — the fish
  24. tube — in a tire

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