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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cell — in biology
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cell — a phone
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. content — the amount
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — a practice
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. drill — the tool
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — army training
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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