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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. shower — rain
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fine — all right
  9. squash — to crush
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wake — a trail
  13. tube — a container
  14. field — farmland
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cell — in biology
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. field — for sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. tube — the underground
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — to wash
  24. squash — the sport

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