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

Word bank: perch · track · rest · lash · tear · pop · court · content

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. rest — what's left
  5. perch — the fish
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. rest — a break
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. track — a song
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. track — a path
  13. court — of a king
  14. tear — to rip
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. pop — music
  17. rest — what's left
  18. pop — soda
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pop — to visit
  24. track — to keep track

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