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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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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: game · bay · saw · snap · rest · key · perch · land

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. land — a country
  4. perch — the fish
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a match
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. key — in music
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. key — the most important part
  12. key — for a lock
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. rest — what's left
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. snap — to click
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. game — wild animals
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. land — ground
  24. saw — the tool

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