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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. mate — a friend
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rash — a series
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. scale — size or range
  10. race — humankind
  11. wake — a trail
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. stock — goods
  18. rush — hurry
  19. race — a contest
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. stock — shares
  24. perch — for a bird

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