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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — a hat
  7. perch — the fish
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. last — to go on
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cap — of ice
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wound — an injury
  19. drill — a practice
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. stock — shares
  22. cap — a lid
  23. stock — goods
  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