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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. spell — letters
  5. sharp — clever
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. spell — a short time
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. rash — a series
  12. stock — goods
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stock — shares
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spell — magic
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. rash — hasty

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