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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — the animal
  5. band — a ring
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. perch — the fish
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. court — of law
  10. mug — a face
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. content — happy
  13. mug — a cup
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. content — the amount
  16. mug — to rob
  17. court — of a king
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. branch — a division
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. court — for sport
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a music group

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