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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. hand — help
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. scale — in music
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wind — moving air
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. prune — to trim
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. perch — for a bird

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