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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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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. object — to protest
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. degree — from a university
  8. object — a thing
  9. degree — an amount
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. content — happy
  15. perch — the fish
  16. pit — a hole
  17. object — an aim
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chair — a leader
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  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