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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. court — of law
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. hand — in cards
  8. row — a line
  9. content — happy
  10. hand — help
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. perch — the fish
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. content — the amount
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. date — the fruit
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. row — to paddle
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. court — for sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. court — of a king

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