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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. degree — an amount
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. land — ground
  11. stock — shares
  12. clip — to cut
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. face — to confront
  18. stock — goods
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. leaves — to go away
  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