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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. roll — a list
  6. sharp — clever
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. kid — to tease
  12. spring — the season
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. roll — a cake
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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