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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: track · bulb · race · kid · fall · fan · perch · pitcher

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bulb — for light
  4. race — humankind
  5. fall — to drop
  6. race — a contest
  7. bulb — for light
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. track — a path
  16. kid — to tease
  17. track — a song
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. race — the arms race
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kid — child
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. perch — for a bird

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