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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cue — a hint
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. net — after costs
  8. cue — for pool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — for catching
  11. perch — the fish
  12. fork — in a road
  13. cue — a signal
  14. scale — in music
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. scale — size or range
  17. net — in sport
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. file — a document
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. file — a tool
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. file — a line of people

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