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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. hand — in cards
  3. band — a ring
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bound — obliged
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bound — tied together
  8. file — a tool
  9. perch — the fish
  10. season — in sport
  11. hand — help
  12. file — a line of people
  13. band — a music group
  14. season — of the year
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. file — a document
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. bound — certain
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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