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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spring — the season
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. mate — a partner
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pitch — completely
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. field — farmland
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. land — to come down
  16. tube — the underground
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a friend
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. spring — of water
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. tube — a container

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