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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. lean — thin
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. game — wild animals
  6. content — happy
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. perch — the fish
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. content — the amount
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. plane — a tool
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. lie — to recline
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. lean — to bend
  22. game — a match
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. date — the fruit

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