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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 116 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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bank — for money
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. cold — not warm
  11. net — for catching
  12. hand — in cards
  13. ball — a dance
  14. net — after costs
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. hand — help
  17. bank — of a river
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — the fish
  21. content — happy
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. bank — for money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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