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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. perch — the fish
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. dip — to sink
  19. cell — in biology
  20. race — humankind
  21. cell — a phone
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. bat — for baseball

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