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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. toast — bread
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — a coil
  6. suit — to fit
  7. suit — in cards
  8. suit — clothes
  9. spring — of water
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. bass — the fish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pound — a weight
  23. spring — the season
  24. pound — for dogs

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