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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spell — magic
  3. kid — child
  4. mug — to rob
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mug — a face
  7. court — for sport
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — for catching
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mug — a cup
  12. kid — to tease
  13. net — after costs
  14. perch — the fish
  15. court — of law
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. court — of a king
  18. spell — a short time
  19. net — in sport
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — certain
  24. spell — letters

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