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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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 — the fish
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — a phone
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. cell — in biology
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. field — farmland
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. row — a line
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bark — to shout
  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