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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 ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. content — the amount
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. content — happy
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. wax — to grow
  18. season — of the year
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. perch — the fish
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — in sport

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