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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 116 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.

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: wind · field · cell · rush · fine · scale · dip · perch

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. scale — size or range
  7. fine — all right
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. field — a subject
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. field — for sport
  18. scale — in music
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cell — in biology
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rush — a thrill

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