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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. content — happy
  7. fine — high quality
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — from a university
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. roll — a list
  14. content — the amount
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. clip — a video
  18. date — the fruit
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. degree — temperature
  21. roll — a cake
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fine — all right
  24. degree — an amount

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