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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — electric
  7. net — in sport
  8. current — of water
  9. capital — a city
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. net — for catching
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pound — a weight
  14. stem — to come from
  15. net — after costs
  16. perch — the fish
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. capital — money
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pass — a permit
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pass — to succeed

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