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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 124 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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — money
  3. perch — the fish
  4. spring — a coil
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — an injury
  7. capital — a city
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — child
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — to come from
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. pitch — completely
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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