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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mouse · leaves · perch · rash · race · land · bat · content

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. content — happy
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — humankind
  6. rash — hasty
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. race — a contest
  11. bat — the animal
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. perch — the fish
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. race — the arms race
  17. rash — a series
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. land — a country
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. content — the amount
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  24. content — videos and posts

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