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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. ground — crushed
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. clip — for paper
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ground — a position
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. perch — the fish
  16. clip — a video
  17. scale — in music
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ground — the earth
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spell — a short time
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. clip — to cut

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