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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to tire
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — to come down
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bore — to drill
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rest — a break
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. rest — what's left
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. wake — a trail
  24. mine — belonging to me

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