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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bank — of a river
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — to come down
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. snap — to click
  13. rash — hasty
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bank — for money
  16. pitch — completely
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bank — for money
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — a series
  21. land — a country
  22. capital — a city
  23. land — ground
  24. capital — money

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