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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. spell — letters
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — for sport
  7. net — in sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. fall — the season
  10. perch — the fish
  11. deal — to handle
  12. spell — magic
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — the fish
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. fall — to drop
  18. net — for catching
  19. fall — to drop
  20. net — after costs
  21. court — of law
  22. spell — a short time
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bound — tied together

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