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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wake — a trail
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. spell — a short time
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. present — a gift
  7. spell — letters
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. clip — a video
  12. spell — magic
  13. capital — money
  14. present — the time now
  15. degree — from a university
  16. capital — a city
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. present — there
  19. degree — an amount
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — temperature

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