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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — a trail
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mine — for digging
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. swing — in golf
  13. lean — thin
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. foot — a measure
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. snap — to click
  22. content — the amount
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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