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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. prune — to trim
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. degree — from a university
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. perch — the fish
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. scale — in music
  24. perch — for a bird

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