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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.

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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cue — a hint
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. shower — rain
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — to drill
  10. dip — to sink
  11. cue — for pool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. perch — the fish
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. chest — a box
  18. spell — a short time
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. spell — magic
  21. shower — to wash
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cue — a signal
  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