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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a hat
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. spring — a coil
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. field — a subject
  8. chip — for betting
  9. spell — magic
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. spell — a short time
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — of water
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. field — for sport
  16. spell — letters
  17. spring — the season
  18. field — farmland
  19. perch — the fish
  20. branch — a division
  21. chip — to eat
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cap — a lid

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