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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. net — after costs
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. net — in sport
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pop — soda
  11. wake — a trail
  12. net — for catching
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. shower — rain
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. ground — crushed
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — a cake
  22. pop — to visit
  23. clip — a video
  24. roll — on a roll

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