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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rock — a stone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. perch — the fish
  10. track — a path
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — army training
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. track — a song
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. chest — a box
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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