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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. field — for sport
  7. track — to keep track
  8. face — to confront
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. face — part of the head
  11. track — a path
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bass — low music
  14. field — a subject
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chip — for betting
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — to eat
  20. cell — a phone
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. track — a song
  24. cell — in a prison

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