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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. land — to come down
  3. perch — the fish
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — shares
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. bank — for money
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bank — of a river
  12. root — of a plant
  13. kid — to tease
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. root — of a word
  17. kid — child
  18. land — a country
  19. bank — for money
  20. stock — goods
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. root — the cause

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