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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bear — the animal
  3. land — a country
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. land — to come down
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pop — music
  8. pop — to visit
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pop — soda
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — a line
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. land — ground
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a ring

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