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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. plane — a tool
  5. staff — employees
  6. chest — a box
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — a subject
  12. chest — of your body
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chest — of your body
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. field — for sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. staff — a stick

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