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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. perch — the fish
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. season — of the year
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cell — a phone
  8. swing — music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — a trail
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bark — to shout
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bear — the animal
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — not warm

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