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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. game — wild animals
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cell — a phone
  5. scale — in music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — in biology
  9. branch — a division
  10. snap — to click
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. perch — the fish
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. game — a match
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. key — for a lock
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. key — in music
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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