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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. face — to point toward
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bass — the fish
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of law
  9. bass — low music
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. perch — the fish
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. face — to confront
  16. prune — to trim
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wound — an injury
  22. court — of a king
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. kick — a thrill

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