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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. scale — in music
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cell — a phone
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. present — a gift
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. spring — the season
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. game — a match
  15. present — there
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. perch — the fish
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cell — in biology
  22. spring — of water
  23. present — the time now
  24. game — wild animals

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