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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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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. clip — a video
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. net — in sport
  6. season — of the year
  7. perch — the fish
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. net — after costs
  14. craft — boats
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — to wash
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. shower — rain
  19. craft — a skill
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chest — a box
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. season — in sport
  24. clip — for paper

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