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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — the underground
  3. perch — the fish
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. row — a line
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. branch — a division
  10. clip — for paper
  11. sharp — clever
  12. clip — to cut
  13. face — to point toward
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. face — part of the head
  17. fork — in a road
  18. clip — a video
  19. face — to confront
  20. row — to paddle
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. tube — a container

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