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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. kick — in football
  3. content — happy
  4. bass — the fish
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. face — part of the head
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. content — the amount
  11. capital — money
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. plane — a tool
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. capital — a city
  20. face — to point toward
  21. squash — the sport
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. bass — low music
  24. squash — to crush

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