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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mate — a friend
  8. face — to point toward
  9. mug — a face
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. clip — a video
  12. mate — a partner
  13. face — to confront
  14. mate — to breed
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mug — to rob
  17. capital — a city
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. snap — to click
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. mug — a cup

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