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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. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. track — a song
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. clip — to cut
  8. club — for dancing
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. clip — for paper
  11. track — to keep track
  12. club — a group
  13. track — a path
  14. mine — for digging
  15. stem — to come from
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. staff — employees
  20. clip — a video
  21. club — for golf
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. stem — a stem cell

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