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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 124 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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. saw — the tool
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. saw — the tool
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cap — a hat
  18. net — after costs
  19. cap — a lid
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cap — of ice
  22. hand — help
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. race — the arms race

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