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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spell — letters
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. row — to paddle
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. capital — a city
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. rush — hurry
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. row — a line
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. capital — money
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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