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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bank — of a river
  4. bark — to shout
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bank — for money
  10. bank — for money
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. coach — a trainer

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