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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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. band — a music group
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. lie — to recline
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. snap — to click
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bark — to shout
  18. band — a ring
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — an illness
  24. band — a rubber band

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