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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bat — the animal
  5. perch — the fish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. plane — a tool
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. mate — a friend
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. rash — hasty
  19. mate — to breed
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. file — a document

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