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

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. deal — to handle
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. march — music
  9. rock — music
  10. perch — the fish
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — a stone
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — help
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. hand — in cards
  18. march — the month

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