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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. perch — the fish
  3. track — to keep track
  4. spell — magic
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — the cause
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spell — a short time
  10. drill — the tool
  11. spell — letters
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. track — a song
  14. track — a path
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. swing — to play on
  19. root — of a word
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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