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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. mate — to breed
  5. content — happy
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. perch — the fish
  8. land — ground
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. squash — to crush
  12. lean — thin
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. squash — the sport
  16. mate — a friend
  17. content — the amount
  18. mate — a partner
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. land — a country
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. land — to come down
  23. lean — to bend
  24. nail — for a hammer

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