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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. pop — music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. snap — to click
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. hand — help
  10. tear — to rip
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — of law
  13. pop — soda
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pop — to visit
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. ball — a great time
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ball — a dance
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. court — for sport

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