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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. court — for sport
  5. key — in music
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. key — the most important part
  12. key — for a lock
  13. race — a contest
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — a signal
  16. court — of law
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a hint
  19. saw — the tool
  20. court — of a king
  21. saw — the tool
  22. band — a music group
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. content — videos and posts

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