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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rest — a break
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rest — what's left
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tear — from crying
  7. plane — a tool
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. row — a line
  10. content — happy
  11. ground — a position
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rest — what's left
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ground — the earth
  20. tear — to rip
  21. row — to paddle
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. ball — a great time
  24. content — the amount

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