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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — wild animals
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. swing — to play on
  8. perch — the fish
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. content — happy
  12. swing — in golf
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cap — a lid
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cap — of ice
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. game — a match
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. cap — a hat

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