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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. spell — a short time
  5. swing — in golf
  6. content — the amount
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. dip — to sink
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. swing — to play on
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. swing — music
  15. net — for catching
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. spell — magic
  18. net — in sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spell — letters
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. net — after costs
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. mine — for digging

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