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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. perch — the fish
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. clip — to cut
  6. content — happy
  7. roll — a cake
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. lean — thin
  10. clip — for paper
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. pit — in a race
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. hand — in cards
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. clip — a video
  20. content — the amount
  21. pit — a hole
  22. hand — help
  23. roll — a list
  24. hand — part of the body

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