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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — not warm
  3. swing — music
  4. staff — employees
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. perch — the fish
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. swing — to play on
  15. staff — a stick
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. staff — employees
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mouse — for a computer

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