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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 116 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. staff — a stick
  3. perch — the fish
  4. spring — the season
  5. lie — to recline
  6. drill — the tool
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. staff — employees
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. drill — army training
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. staff — employees
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — of water
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. drill — a practice
  24. lie — an untruth

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