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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 116 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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cell — in biology
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pitch — completely
  7. net — in sport
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. net — after costs
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. cell — a phone
  15. net — for catching
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wound — an injury
  21. perch — the fish
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. calf — a young animal

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