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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  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. arm — a part of something
  2. bat — the animal
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. hand — help
  5. perch — the fish
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. root — of a word
  8. staff — employees
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — in cards
  14. root — of a plant
  15. staff — employees
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. staff — a stick
  18. content — happy
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. root — the cause
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — the amount
  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