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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. kick — in football
  6. drill — army training
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. file — a tool
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. rest — what's left
  13. drill — the tool
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. perch — the fish
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. rest — a break
  19. fine — high quality
  20. rest — what's left
  21. file — a line of people
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. file — a document
  24. bat — in an idiom

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