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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cap — a hat
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. squash — the sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cap — a lid
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. squash — to crush
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cap — of ice
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video

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