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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bat — the animal
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. can — a tin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. ground — crushed
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mine — for digging
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. fall — to drop
  18. can — a tin
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. fall — the season
  22. perch — the fish
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — for baseball

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