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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. land — ground
  6. perch — the fish
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. cell — a phone
  9. last — finally
  10. squash — to crush
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. squash — the sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rush — hurry
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. last — final
  18. land — to come down
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — in biology
  23. last — to go on
  24. perch — for a bird

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