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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mug — a cup
  3. field — for sport
  4. club — for golf
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. mug — a face
  9. club — for dancing
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — in music
  13. perch — the fish
  14. field — farmland
  15. scale — size or range
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. club — a group
  18. kid — to tease
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mug — to rob
  23. field — a subject
  24. kid — child

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