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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 120 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: mouse · sharp · cold · tear · perch · ball · net · ground

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — in sport
  3. ground — the earth
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — from crying
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. net — for catching
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ground — crushed
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. net — after costs
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ground — a position
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. perch — for a bird

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