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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. hand — help
  3. ground — a position
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. rash — a series
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. file — a document
  8. ground — the earth
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rash — hasty
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chip — to eat
  17. file — a tool
  18. cap — a lid
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chip — for betting
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  24. perch — for a bird

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