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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. perch — the fish
  3. ground — a position
  4. band — a ring
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. cell — in biology
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. ground — the earth
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. ball — a dance
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. deal — to handle
  15. file — a tool
  16. cell — a phone
  17. band — a music group
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ground — crushed
  21. file — a document
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. file — a line of people
  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