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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. fall — the season
  2. cold — not warm
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. march — the month
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. perch — the fish
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spell — letters
  13. march — the month
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bass — the fish
  17. fall — to drop
  18. march — music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spell — magic
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  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