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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. scale — in music
  5. club — for dancing
  6. scale — size or range
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. perch — the fish
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. march — music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. march — the month
  16. club — a group
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. club — for golf
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bound — obliged

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