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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bass — low music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. game — wild animals
  8. clip — a video
  9. fall — the season
  10. pit — a hole
  11. game — a match
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. staff — a stick
  14. pit — in a race
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. perch — the fish
  19. staff — employees
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bass — the fish
  24. staff — employees

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