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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. hand — help
  3. perch — the fish
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. kick — in football
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — from a university
  12. last — finally
  13. tear — to rip
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. tear — from crying
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. content — the amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — final
  23. content — happy
  24. hand — in cards

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