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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. season — of the year
  5. present — there
  6. file — a document
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. toast — bread
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. saw — the tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wound — an injury
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. cold — an illness
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — in sport
  21. file — a tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. perch — the fish
  24. wound — an injury

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