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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. spell — letters
  3. cue — a signal
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. cue — a hint
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. spell — a short time
  13. chest — of your body
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. rest — a break
  16. spell — magic
  17. squash — the sport
  18. rest — what's left
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. rest — what's left
  22. squash — to crush
  23. cue — for pool
  24. squash — the vegetable

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