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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — the fish
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. plane — a tool
  9. key — for a lock
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cold — an illness
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. fork — in a road
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. key — in music
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. kid — child
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. kid — to tease

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