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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. current — happening now
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pound — a weight
  13. sharp — clever
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. clip — a video
  20. fall — to drop
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. perch — the fish
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fall — the season

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