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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. clip — for paper
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. clip — to cut
  5. perch — the fish
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. capital — a city
  12. squash — the sport
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. last — final
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. capital — money
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. temple — a place of worship

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