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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cell — a phone
  4. snap — to click
  5. net — after costs
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. capital — a city
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rest — a break
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. rest — what's left
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fall — to drop
  22. perch — the fish
  23. net — in sport
  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