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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. perch — the fish
  4. swing — in golf
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wax — to grow
  8. kid — child
  9. chip — for betting
  10. swing — music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. kid — to tease
  15. swing — to play on
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. capital — a city
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. capital — money
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mine — for digging

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