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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. file — a line of people
  5. net — for catching
  6. perch — the fish
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wake — a trail
  9. net — after costs
  10. race — humankind
  11. key — in music
  12. capital — a city
  13. net — in sport
  14. race — the arms race
  15. key — the most important part
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. race — a contest
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. file — a document
  20. capital — money
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. file — a tool
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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