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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. spell — magic
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. clip — a video
  11. mark — a trace
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. perch — the fish
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. spell — letters
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. spell — a short time
  22. mark — a grade
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. clip — to cut

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