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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.

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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. spell — magic
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. spell — a short time
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. shower — rain
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. pitch — completely
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. chest — a box
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spell — letters
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. pitch — a sports field

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