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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. charge — a price
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. charge — electricity
  6. content — happy
  7. perch — the fish
  8. charge — in control
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mine — for digging
  11. content — the amount
  12. date — the fruit
  13. ground — a position
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ground — crushed
  16. clip — a video
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. ground — the earth
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fine — all right
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fine — high quality

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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