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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — happy
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. content — the amount
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — to paddle
  18. court — of a king
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — a line
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. court — of law
  24. pitch — completely

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