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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. capital — money
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a city
  10. craft — a skill
  11. roll — a list
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. craft — boats
  16. chair — a leader
  17. perch — the fish
  18. game — a match
  19. roll — a cake
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. ground — a position
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. roll — on a roll

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