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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. kid — child
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — a subject
  8. perch — the fish
  9. band — a music group
  10. cap — a lid
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — to tease
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a hat
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. mug — a face

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