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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cell — in biology
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. perch — the fish
  6. scale — size or range
  7. rest — what's left
  8. scale — in music
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — a subject
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. rest — what's left
  14. content — happy
  15. rest — a break
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. content — the amount
  21. press — to push
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — a phone
  24. field — for sport

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