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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: perch · bat · sharp · roll · foot · ground · pound · track

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. perch — the fish
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pound — a weight
  8. sharp — clever
  9. bat — the animal
  10. roll — a list
  11. foot — a measure
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. track — to keep track
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. ground — a position
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. track — a song
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. track — a path
  22. ground — the earth
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. sharp — exactly

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