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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. last — to go on
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. row — a line
  8. last — final
  9. mine — for digging
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mug — to rob
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. perch — the fish
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. snap — to click
  20. last — finally
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. row — to paddle
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. mug — a cup

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