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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a tool
  6. object — to protest
  7. snap — to click
  8. drill — army training
  9. object — a thing
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. scale — in music
  12. drill — the tool
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. file — a line of people
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. scale — size or range
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. object — an aim
  22. drill — a practice
  23. file — a document
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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