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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mate — to breed
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bat — the animal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. mate — a partner
  24. perch — the fish

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