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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. swing — to play on
  8. perch — the fish
  9. squash — the sport
  10. object — an aim
  11. field — a subject
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. swing — in golf
  14. field — farmland
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. squash — to crush
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. field — for sport
  20. stock — shares
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. stock — goods
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. swing — music

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