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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. march — the month
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. march — music
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — the month
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. perch — the fish
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. present — there
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. present — the time now
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. present — a gift
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. clip — for paper
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. mine — belonging to me

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