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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. ground — a position
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cell — a phone
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pop — to visit
  11. ground — the earth
  12. squash — to crush
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chest — of your body
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — music
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pop — soda
  23. chest — of your body
  24. squash — the sport

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