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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. last — to go on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. object — a thing
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — to protest
  13. last — finally
  14. vault — a safe
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — money
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wake — a trail
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. capital — a city
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. last — final

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