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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. lean — to bend
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bass — the fish
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bass — low music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. lean — thin
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. rash — a series
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a city

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