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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cell — a phone
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. prune — to trim
  13. perch — the fish
  14. field — for sport
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — a subject
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bowl — a dish

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