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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. lean — to bend
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. stock — shares
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. lean — thin
  9. mine — for digging
  10. firm — decided
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stock — goods
  13. perch — the fish
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. firm — steady
  18. firm — a company
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bat — the animal
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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