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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. mate — to breed
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. current — electric
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — a phone
  13. field — a subject
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. current — happening now
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. field — farmland
  18. current — of water
  19. mate — a partner
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — a video
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mate — a friend

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