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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. last — final
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. content — happy
  9. band — a music group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. content — the amount
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pitch — completely
  20. last — finally
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. band — a ring
  24. wind — moving air

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