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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. fall — the season
  4. content — the amount
  5. court — for sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. craft — a skill
  11. court — of law
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fall — to drop
  15. content — happy
  16. bark — to shout
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. clip — for paper
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. court — of a king
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. clip — a video

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