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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. spell — magic
  3. court — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. spell — a short time
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. race — humankind
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. rest — what's left
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. ball — a dance
  15. rest — a break
  16. spell — letters
  17. court — of law
  18. rest — what's left
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. race — a contest
  21. court — of a king
  22. race — the arms race
  23. ball — a great time
  24. fan — a supporter

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