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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 116 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cell — a phone
  9. shower — to wash
  10. ground — crushed
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. ball — a dance
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. spell — magic
  16. cell — in biology
  17. spell — letters
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. ground — a position
  21. spell — a short time
  22. perch — the fish
  23. ball — a great time
  24. shower — rain

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