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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. toast — bread
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. perch — the fish
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — for paper
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. content — the amount
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. cabinet — ministers

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