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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. key — in music
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. net — after costs
  6. hand — in cards
  7. key — the most important part
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bound — certain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. perch — the fish
  17. net — in sport
  18. key — for a lock
  19. net — for catching
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bulb — for light
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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