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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.

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: capital · row · mine · perch · bore · lash · cold · pitcher

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. capital — a city
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. capital — money
  12. row — to paddle
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. perch — the fish
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bore — to drill
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. row — a line
  24. cold — not warm

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