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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. perch — the fish
  3. face — to point toward
  4. march — music
  5. club — for dancing
  6. march — the month
  7. cell — in biology
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. club — a group
  12. face — part of the head
  13. clip — for paper
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. face — to confront
  16. club — for golf
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. clip — a video
  19. march — the month
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chip — to eat
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. chip — for betting

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