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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. charge — in control
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cell — in biology
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — the season
  7. charge — a price
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — a practice
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bank — for money
  14. spring — of water
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bank — for money
  17. charge — electricity
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cell — a phone
  20. perch — the fish
  21. drill — army training
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bank — of a river

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