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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tube — the underground
  9. file — a document
  10. tube — a container
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. prune — to trim
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ground — the earth
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cell — in biology
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. file — a tool

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