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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — wild animals
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. perch — the fish
  6. deal — to handle
  7. bound — tied together
  8. bound — obliged
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bound — certain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — a match
  15. fork — in a road
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. wind — moving air
  24. perch — for a bird

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