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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wind — moving air
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. dip — to sink
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bat — the animal
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — moving air
  24. branch — a division

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