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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. field — a subject
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. rash — hasty
  6. field — farmland
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — for paper
  11. staff — employees
  12. perch — the fish
  13. clip — to cut
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. field — for sport
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — to drill
  22. prune — to trim
  23. clip — a video
  24. perch — for a bird

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