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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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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cell — in biology
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. file — a document
  6. content — happy
  7. file — a line of people
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wake — a trail
  10. file — a tool
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. content — the amount
  21. cell — a phone
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mark — a trace
  24. hand — help

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