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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. last — final
  9. spring — the season
  10. pop — music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — finally
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. pop — soda
  15. game — a match
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pop — to visit
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. game — wild animals
  21. last — to go on
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spring — of water
  24. mouse — the animal

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