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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. root — of a word
  4. cap — a lid
  5. root — of a plant
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — moving air
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. cap — a hat
  13. squash — to crush
  14. track — to keep track
  15. perch — the fish
  16. root — the cause
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cap — of ice
  24. pitcher — a jug

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