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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spring — of water
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spring — a coil
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. shower — rain
  10. cap — of ice
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. shower — to wash
  15. perch — the fish
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cap — a hat
  20. spring — the season
  21. kid — to tease
  22. net — in sport
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. nail — on a finger

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