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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. last — final
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — happy
  7. roll — a cake
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — to go on
  11. roll — a list
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. content — the amount
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. perch — the fish
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. last — finally

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