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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pit — a hole
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. capital — a city
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chest — a box
  16. capital — money
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mark — a trace
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mark — a grade
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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