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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. roll — a list
  3. fall — to drop
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a cake
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. hand — help
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. row — a line
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. land — to come down
  21. hand — in cards
  22. perch — the fish
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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