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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 116 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. rest — a break
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. perch — the fish
  5. hand — help
  6. kid — child
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rest — what's left
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. spell — letters
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. kid — to tease
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rest — what's left
  17. content — happy
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. spell — a short time
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. content — the amount
  24. hide — animal skin

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