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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 120 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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. fall — to drop
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. season — of the year
  7. bound — tied together
  8. fall — the season
  9. kid — to tease
  10. court — of a king
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. fall — to drop
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bound — certain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. plane — a tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. season — in sport
  20. kid — child
  21. cold — an illness
  22. court — of law
  23. bound — obliged
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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