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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: scale · chest · spell · land · band · rash · perch · game

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. scale — size or range
  3. game — a match
  4. chest — of your body
  5. land — ground
  6. scale — in music
  7. rash — hasty
  8. band — a ring
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. spell — a short time
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. game — wild animals
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spell — magic
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spell — letters
  21. chest — a box
  22. perch — the fish
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — for weighing

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