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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. land — a country
  6. track — to keep track
  7. land — to come down
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. net — after costs
  10. pitch — completely
  11. track — a song
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. root — the cause
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. track — a path
  19. root — of a word
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. root — of a plant
  22. land — ground
  23. perch — the fish
  24. trunk — of a car

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