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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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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: object · perch · bear · last · game · deal · content · clip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. game — a match
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. deal — to handle
  7. game — wild animals
  8. object — an aim
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. object — a thing
  18. bear — the animal
  19. object — to protest
  20. clip — to cut
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. clip — for paper

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