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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. net — after costs
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. content — happy
  8. wake — a trail
  9. tube — the underground
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. saw — the tool
  12. squash — the sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. perch — the fish
  17. squash — to crush
  18. chair — a leader
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. net — in sport
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — to sit on

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