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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. content — happy
  11. face — to confront
  12. perch — the fish
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — after costs
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. content — the amount
  17. pound — a weight
  18. net — for catching
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. net — in sport
  24. face — part of the head

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