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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. mug — a face
  3. stem — to come from
  4. content — the amount
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. race — a contest
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. race — the arms race
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. content — happy
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mug — to rob
  17. perch — the fish
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. scale — size or range
  21. mug — a cup
  22. race — humankind
  23. scale — in music
  24. perch — for a bird

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