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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. last — to go on
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bark — to shout
  17. content — happy
  18. chest — of your body
  19. last — final
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. date — the fruit
  23. chest — a box
  24. perch — the fish

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