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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. perch — the fish
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. date — the fruit
  6. content — happy
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. club — a group
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chest — a box
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. club — for dancing
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. hand — help
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — a country
  23. club — for golf
  24. date — on the calendar

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