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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. fork — in a road
  6. content — happy
  7. pop — soda
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. squash — to crush
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pop — music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. perch — the fish
  15. mine — for digging
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — the amount
  21. squash — the sport
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pop — to visit

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