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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. key — in music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. perch — the fish
  6. drill — army training
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cell — in biology
  12. drill — a practice
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. drill — the tool
  21. squash — the sport
  22. key — for a lock
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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