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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rest — what's left
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. ground — the earth
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. spring — the season
  9. rest — what's left
  10. last — final
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tube — a container
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. season — in sport
  17. tube — the underground
  18. rest — a break
  19. season — of the year
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. spring — of water
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — a position

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