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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  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. mate — to breed
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. clip — for paper
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mate — a partner
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. perch — the fish
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — crushed
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mate — a friend
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  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