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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. net — in sport
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. net — for catching
  5. snap — to click
  6. current — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — the fish
  11. spring — of water
  12. net — after costs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. current — happening now
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — an illness
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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