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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. spring — a coil
  7. perch — the fish
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. spring — of water
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — the season
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wax — for sculpting

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