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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. scale — size or range
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cap — of ice
  10. chair — a leader
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cap — a lid
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. cap — a hat
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wind — moving air
  23. field — farmland
  24. scale — in music

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