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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — music
  3. file — a line of people
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bank — for money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pop — soda
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — of a river
  10. perch — the fish
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. rash — hasty
  17. clip — a video
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rash — a series
  24. clip — for paper

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