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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. craft — a skill
  3. ground — crushed
  4. kid — child
  5. rock — a stone
  6. perch — the fish
  7. ground — the earth
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rock — music
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. sharp — clever
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. kid — to tease
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. ground — a position
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. sharp — with an edge

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