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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 124 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. spring — the season
  3. wind — moving air
  4. current — electric
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. mate — a friend
  8. perch — the fish
  9. last — to go on
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. current — happening now
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mate — to breed
  15. current — of water
  16. wind — moving air
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pound — a weight
  19. last — final
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. mate — a partner
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. chair — a leader
  24. spring — of water

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