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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. foot — a measure
  6. swing — music
  7. pound — a weight
  8. perch — the fish
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mate — to breed
  16. spell — magic
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bound — certain
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — an illness
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. swing — in golf
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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