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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 water is too ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. track — to keep track
  3. game — a match
  4. track — a song
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. track — a path
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bank — of a river
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. pitch — completely
  15. perch — the fish
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. wax — to grow
  18. chair — a leader
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — for money
  24. perch — for a bird

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