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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a lid
  3. kid — child
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. stock — goods
  9. cap — a hat
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. sharp — clever
  14. stock — shares
  15. cap — of ice
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. land — a country
  20. wax — to grow
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — a thrill

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