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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: perch · row · tear · bowl · field · game · lean · squash

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. lean — thin
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. perch — the fish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. field — farmland
  8. lean — to bend
  9. game — wild animals
  10. row — a line
  11. squash — to crush
  12. row — to paddle
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — a subject
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. squash — the sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — for sport
  24. bowl — a football final

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