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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. kid — to tease
  3. content — happy
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. snap — to click
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. court — of a king
  9. kid — child
  10. bear — the animal
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — the fish
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. court — of law
  15. content — the amount
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. court — for sport
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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