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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.

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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. firm — decided
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — happy
  6. kick — in football
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — of your body
  10. firm — a company
  11. cold — not warm
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. charge — a price
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. firm — steady
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. charge — in control
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. charge — electricity
  23. bulb — for light
  24. kick — with a leg

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