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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. perch — the fish
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. spring — the season
  16. bark — to shout
  17. spring — a coil
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. spring — of water
  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