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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. perch — the fish
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. file — a line of people
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — a list
  7. current — of water
  8. march — the month
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. current — electric
  11. file — a tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. file — a document
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — not warm
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — music
  23. bat — the animal
  24. current — happening now

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