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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. ground — a position
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. ground — crushed
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. row — to paddle
  10. face — part of the head
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. board — to get on
  14. board — a committee
  15. squash — to crush
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spring — of water
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spring — the season
  22. row — a line
  23. spring — a coil
  24. board — a flat piece

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