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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. snap — to click
  4. game — wild animals
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. court — of a king
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. court — for sport
  10. perch — the fish
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. pop — to visit
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. pop — soda
  20. court — of law
  21. wake — a trail
  22. game — a match
  23. pop — music
  24. row — to paddle

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