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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. game — a match
  4. content — happy
  5. mate — a friend
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. content — the amount
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. file — a tool
  14. rule — a law
  15. perch — the fish
  16. file — a document
  17. mate — to breed
  18. wind — moving air
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. rule — government
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a line of people
  23. game — wild animals
  24. mate — a partner

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