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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. drill — a practice
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. drill — the tool
  16. roll — a list
  17. branch — a division
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. shower — to wash
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. shower — rain
  22. row — a line
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. drill — army training

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