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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 120 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. clip — to cut
  3. perch — the fish
  4. squash — to crush
  5. clip — for paper
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wake — a trail
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. clip — a video
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. staff — a stick
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. tear — from crying
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — employees

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