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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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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: wind · game · bound · perch · foot · shower · drill · spell

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bound — certain
  3. perch — the fish
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spell — magic
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bound — tied together
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. game — a match
  11. bound — obliged
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. drill — the tool
  14. wind — moving air
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. drill — army training
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. foot — a measure
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. wind — moving air
  24. game — wild animals

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