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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.

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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: shower · perch · track · scale · mine · hide · cap · cell

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  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. scale — size or range
  2. perch — the fish
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. mine — for digging
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cap — a hat
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. shower — rain
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. scale — in music
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. track — a path
  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