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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: wave · perch · prune · land · can · chair · content · pit

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. can — a tin
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — ground
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. prune — to trim
  10. can — a tin
  11. land — a country
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. content — happy
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. can — to be able to
  20. perch — the fish
  21. chair — a leader
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. land — to come down

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