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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 120 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. file — a tool
  3. mate — a partner
  4. content — happy
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. mate — to breed
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. content — the amount
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. file — a document
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mate — a friend

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