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

Word bank: tear · row · fan · perch · kid · chip · scale · mark

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. perch — the fish
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. scale — in music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. chip — to eat
  16. row — a line
  17. kid — child
  18. tear — to rip
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tear — from crying
  24. scale — size or range

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