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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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. content — happy
  4. lean — to bend
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. branch — a division
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. lean — thin
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. degree — from a university
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. degree — temperature
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. branch — of a tree

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