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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — a hat
  10. stock — shares
  11. cap — of ice
  12. foot — a measure
  13. court — of a king
  14. content — the amount
  15. stock — goods
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. court — of law
  19. perch — the fish
  20. date — the fruit
  21. wake — a trail
  22. content — happy
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — part of the body

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