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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pop — soda
  9. perch — the fish
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. last — finally
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. kid — to tease
  17. pop — music
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — final
  20. file — a document
  21. pop — to visit
  22. file — a line of people
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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