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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. press — a publisher
  4. bass — low music
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — the amount
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. content — happy
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. lie — to recline
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bass — the fish
  16. board — a committee
  17. press — to push
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — not warm
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. board — to get on
  23. mine — for digging
  24. lie — an untruth

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