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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 120 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. dip — to sink
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spell — a short time
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. spell — letters
  8. tear — from crying
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. game — wild animals
  11. perch — the fish
  12. stem — to come from
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spell — magic
  16. tear — to rip
  17. land — a country
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a match
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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