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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chest — a box
  5. race — a contest
  6. perch — the fish
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pass — a permit
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. court — for sport
  13. content — the amount
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — humankind
  16. content — happy
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. court — of law
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — of a king
  24. chest — of your body

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