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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — not warm
  4. court — for sport
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — of law
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. plane — a tool
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. current — electric
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — a city
  13. content — the amount
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. current — of water
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. capital — money
  19. perch — the fish
  20. court — of a king
  21. content — happy
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. current — happening now

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