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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. perch — the fish
  3. object — a thing
  4. clip — a video
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. staff — employees
  8. clip — to cut
  9. object — an aim
  10. squash — to crush
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — clever
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. staff — a stick
  17. squash — the sport
  18. object — to protest
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. fall — to drop

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