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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. net — after costs
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bore — to drill
  6. season — in sport
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bore — to tire
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mate — to breed
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. net — for catching
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. season — of the year
  18. bound — certain
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. net — in sport
  21. mate — a partner
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitcher — a jug

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