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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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. charge — a price
  4. perch — the fish
  5. swing — to play on
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. charge — in control
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tube — a container
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. plane — a tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. charge — electricity
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. tube — the underground
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. capital — a city

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