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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. last — final
  10. perch — the fish
  11. content — happy
  12. last — finally
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. content — the amount
  18. row — to paddle
  19. last — to go on
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. staff — employees
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. row — a line

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