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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — the season
  11. pound — a weight
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. spring — of water
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to tire
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. bore — to drill
  19. mark — a grade
  20. spring — a coil
  21. perch — the fish
  22. mark — a trace
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. fan — a supporter

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