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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. content — the amount
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. bound — certain
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. court — of a king
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bound — obliged
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. spring — of water
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. content — happy
  24. race — the arms race

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