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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. saw — the tool
  5. swing — in golf
  6. chair — a leader
  7. kick — in football
  8. lie — to recline
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. face — to confront
  11. swing — to play on
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. swing — music
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. face — part of the head
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. face — to point toward
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. saw — the tool
  24. content — the amount

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