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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. clip — a video
  4. pit — a hole
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — a subject
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. pit — in a race
  12. field — for sport
  13. mark — a trace
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. perch — the fish
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. clip — for paper
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kick — in football
  21. mark — a grade
  22. field — farmland
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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