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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. object — a thing
  3. object — to protest
  4. content — the amount
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. bore — to tire
  9. land — ground
  10. row — a line
  11. content — happy
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bore — to drill
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. object — an aim
  22. scale — in music
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. scale — size or range

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