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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: court · perch · pit · fine · cold · wake · content · mouse

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. fine — all right
  3. perch — the fish
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. pit — a hole
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. court — of law
  11. content — happy
  12. court — for sport
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. fine — high quality
  16. cold — not warm
  17. court — of a king
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. content — the amount

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