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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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. cold — an illness
  4. band — a music group
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. club — for dancing
  9. pop — music
  10. club — a group
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pop — soda
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. band — a ring
  18. club — for golf
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. ball — a dance

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