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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pop — music
  3. tube — the underground
  4. stock — shares
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. perch — the fish
  7. pop — soda
  8. capital — a city
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. stock — goods
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. season — in sport
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. season — of the year
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — a container
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pop — to visit
  24. stock — a soup base

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