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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — a practice
  5. perch — the fish
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. capital — money
  10. bark — to shout
  11. craft — a skill
  12. degree — temperature
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. craft — boats
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — a city
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — army training
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. degree — from a university

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