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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. kid — to tease
  6. race — the arms race
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — child
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. race — humankind
  17. perch — the fish
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. race — a contest
  20. rush — hurry
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pound — a weight
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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