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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. perch — the fish
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. fall — the season
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wound — an injury
  10. game — a match
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. fall — to drop
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wound — an injury
  15. plane — a tool
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. net — in sport
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. net — for catching
  21. kick — in football
  22. net — after costs
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bark — of a tree

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