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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bulb — for light
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bulb — for light
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. stock — goods
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rash — a series
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wind — moving air
  23. branch — a division
  24. cold — an illness

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