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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cue — a hint
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cap — a hat
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pop — music
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tear — to rip
  10. pop — to visit
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cue — a signal
  13. land — ground
  14. cap — of ice
  15. land — to come down
  16. perch — the fish
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pop — soda
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — a country
  24. cue — for pool

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