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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 116 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 do anything ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. key — for a lock
  5. game — wild animals
  6. hand — help
  7. game — a match
  8. bound — obliged
  9. key — in music
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rash — a series
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bound — certain
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. key — the most important part
  17. wind — moving air
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bound — tied together
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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