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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. staff — employees
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tube — the underground
  6. hand — help
  7. chest — of your body
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bass — low music
  11. hand — in cards
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bass — the fish
  14. tube — a container
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — of law
  17. chest — a box
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. snap — to click
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. court — for sport
  24. staff — a stick

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