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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 116 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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. perch — the fish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — to wash
  9. row — a line
  10. clip — a video
  11. shower — rain
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. scale — size or range
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. chip — for betting
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. row — to paddle
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — in a computer

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