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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  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. cue — a signal
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cue — a hint
  4. content — happy
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. chest — of your body
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — the amount
  11. chest — a box
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. chest — of your body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pass — a permit
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cue — for pool
  18. tear — to rip
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — letters
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  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