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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. row — a line
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. root — of a word
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cold — an illness
  12. root — the cause
  13. mine — for digging
  14. spring — the season
  15. mark — a grade
  16. perch — the fish
  17. mark — a trace
  18. spring — of water
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to click
  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