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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pit — a hole
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. saw — the tool
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pit — in a race
  9. saw — the tool
  10. branch — a division
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. row — a line
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — the fish

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