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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. present — there
  7. row — a line
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. present — the time now
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. file — a line of people
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. row — to paddle
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. present — a gift

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