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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. foot — a measure
  5. cell — a phone
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — in biology
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. charge — a price
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. charge — in control
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. charge — electricity
  20. cold — not warm
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. cell — in a prison

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