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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: craft · cap · fork · court · content · spring · tube · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. craft — boats
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — of water
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. content — the amount
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. craft — a skill
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. perch — the fish
  17. content — happy
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. cap — of ice
  20. spring — the season
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cap — a hat

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