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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rush — hurry
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — the earth
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. sharp — clever
  10. field — farmland
  11. saw — the tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wind — moving air
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. field — a subject
  22. ground — a position
  23. field — for sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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