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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. current — of water
  3. perch — the fish
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — wild animals
  9. field — for sport
  10. staff — employees
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rash — a series
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. staff — a stick
  16. chest — of your body
  17. field — farmland
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. field — a subject
  20. current — electric
  21. hand — help
  22. current — happening now
  23. rash — hasty
  24. chest — a box

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