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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. ground — the earth
  3. last — to go on
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. chair — a leader
  9. fork — in a road
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. last — finally
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. ground — crushed
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. ground — a position
  21. last — final
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. race — the arms race
  24. perch — the fish

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