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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cell — in biology
  3. scale — in music
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. race — a contest
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — to come down
  8. spell — letters
  9. field — farmland
  10. race — humankind
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spell — magic
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cell — a phone
  16. land — a country
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. field — for sport
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. field — a subject
  21. land — ground
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. scale — size or range

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