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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 116 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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. spell — letters
  5. bass — low music
  6. perch — the fish
  7. content — happy
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — a tool
  12. season — of the year
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. shower — to wash
  17. season — in sport
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — rain
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. dip — to sink
  23. bass — the fish
  24. plane — in geometry

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