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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spring — a coil
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. shower — rain
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spring — of water
  12. content — the amount
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. staff — employees
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spring — the season
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — the animal
  23. content — happy
  24. staff — a stick

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