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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. court — of law
  6. kid — to tease
  7. fine — high quality
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fine — all right
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — to play on
  12. squash — the sport
  13. chip — to eat
  14. swing — music
  15. court — for sport
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. squash — to crush
  18. spell — magic
  19. chip — for betting
  20. perch — the fish
  21. court — of a king
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. spell — a short time

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