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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. present — a gift
  4. scale — in music
  5. present — there
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bulb — for light
  8. present — the time now
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. squash — to crush
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. kid — child
  17. field — farmland
  18. kid — to tease
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bulb — for light
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rash — a series
  24. scale — size or range

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