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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — to cut
  5. land — a country
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — ground
  8. rule — government
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rule — a law
  11. land — to come down
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. craft — a skill
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. craft — boats
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bass — low music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cell — a phone

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