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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. fall — to drop
  3. drill — a practice
  4. staff — a stick
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. fall — the season
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. staff — employees
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — clever
  15. staff — employees
  16. perch — the fish
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. field — farmland
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. fall — to drop
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — the tool
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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