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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cue — a signal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — to trim
  12. perch — the fish
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. ground — crushed
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. face — to point toward
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cue — a hint
  20. ground — a position
  21. track — a song
  22. face — to confront
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cue — for pool

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