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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. perch — the fish
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — the underground
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. chest — of your body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chest — a box
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. foot — a measure
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — not warm
  24. chest — of your body

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