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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 120 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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. rash — a series
  5. ground — a position
  6. band — a ring
  7. content — happy
  8. ground — crushed
  9. press — to push
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rash — hasty
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. band — a music group
  15. cap — of ice
  16. press — a publisher
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. cap — a hat
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ground — the earth
  22. game — a match
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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