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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. charge — a price
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rest — a break
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — for paper
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wound — an injury
  17. charge — in control
  18. clip — a video
  19. charge — electricity
  20. cold — an illness
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rest — what's left
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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