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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: cold · perch · dip · scale · bat · rush · cap · squash

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. scale — in music
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bat — the animal
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cold — not warm
  10. dip — to sink
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — an illness
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. squash — to crush
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rush — to hurry

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