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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 120 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. track — to keep track
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rest — what's left
  8. stock — shares
  9. track — a song
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. stock — goods
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wound — an injury
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. track — a path
  18. perch — the fish
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rest — a break
  23. shower — rain
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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