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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. mate — to breed
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mate — a friend
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. foot — a measure
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. content — happy
  14. mate — a partner
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — the 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