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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. drill — army training
  5. perch — the fish
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — to play on
  10. land — a country
  11. scale — size or range
  12. drill — a practice
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. swing — in golf
  15. sharp — clever
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bound — obliged
  18. land — ground
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bound — certain
  21. scale — in music
  22. bound — tied together
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. drill — the tool

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