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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wind — moving air
  5. game — a match
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cap — of ice
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. perch — the fish
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. content — the amount
  17. cap — a hat
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. game — wild animals
  20. content — happy
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bat — the animal
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cap — a lid

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