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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. pound — a weight
  4. rush — hurry
  5. dip — to sink
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pop — soda
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cold — an illness
  13. last — final
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. face — to point toward
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. face — to confront
  18. last — finally
  19. pop — music
  20. last — to go on
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. face — part of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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