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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. court — of law
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — a division
  5. court — for sport
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. perch — the fish
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. present — a gift
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. content — the amount
  16. squash — to crush
  17. content — happy
  18. present — there
  19. sharp — clever
  20. present — the time now
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. court — of a king
  24. pitcher — a jug

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