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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. perch — the fish
  3. mark — a trace
  4. fine — high quality
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. board — to get on
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. fine — all right
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. stem — to come from
  14. board — a committee
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. scale — in music
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. kid — child
  23. scale — size or range
  24. capital — money

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