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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. game — a match
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. court — of law
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. face — to confront
  9. bat — the animal
  10. court — of a king
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. root — of a word
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — part of the head
  22. perch — the fish
  23. court — for sport
  24. deal — an agreement

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