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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spell — a short time
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. spell — letters
  9. kid — child
  10. content — the amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. march — music
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. club — for dancing
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bat — the animal
  21. perch — the fish
  22. content — happy
  23. spell — magic
  24. rest — what's left

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