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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. perch — the fish
  3. last — final
  4. ball — a great time
  5. race — humankind
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. ball — a dance
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. current — of water
  11. last — finally
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. last — to go on
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. spring — the season
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. race — a contest
  20. spring — of water
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. race — the arms race
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. mouse — the animal

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