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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. perch — the fish
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spell — magic
  8. land — a country
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pit — in a race
  12. wind — moving air
  13. deal — to handle
  14. pit — a hole
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. land — ground
  17. spell — letters
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. field — farmland
  22. spell — a short time
  23. land — to come down
  24. field — for sport

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