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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. clip — a video
  4. mug — a cup
  5. clip — to cut
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mug — to rob
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. prune — to trim
  12. shower — to wash
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — for paper
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. mug — a face
  21. field — for sport
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — a subject

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