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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. perch — the fish
  6. scale — in music
  7. wax — to grow
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. sharp — clever
  16. wind — moving air
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. scale — size or range

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