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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. net — for catching
  23. tear — to rip
  24. straw — a straw man

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