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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. perch — the fish
  5. last — to go on
  6. wound — an injury
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mark — a trace
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. last — finally
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mark — a grade
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. last — final
  24. wound — an injury

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