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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. last — to go on
  6. band — a ring
  7. court — of law
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rule — a law
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. last — finally
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rule — government
  17. scale — in music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rush — hurry
  21. band — a music group
  22. perch — the fish
  23. last — final
  24. court — for sport

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