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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. land — a country
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. dip — to sink

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