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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rash — a series
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. charge — a price
  9. mate — to breed
  10. roll — a cake
  11. roll — a list
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — to cut
  16. charge — in control
  17. degree — from a university
  18. perch — the fish
  19. mate — a partner
  20. degree — temperature
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mate — a friend
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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