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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spell — letters
  4. clip — to cut
  5. file — a tool
  6. face — to confront
  7. perch — the fish
  8. file — a line of people
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. capital — money
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. board — to get on
  16. board — a committee
  17. capital — a city
  18. face — part of the head
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. spell — magic
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. file — a document
  24. face — to point toward

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