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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: wake · season · swing · scale · field · game · hide · perch

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. field — for sport
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. swing — to play on
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. swing — music
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wake — a trail
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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