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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. leaves — lets stay
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. spring — of water
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. spring — the season
  6. chest — of your body
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ball — a great time
  10. chest — of your body
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ball — a dance
  14. perch — the fish
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spring — a coil
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chest — a box
  23. bear — the animal
  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