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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. cap — a lid
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. net — in sport
  10. ground — crushed
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — for catching
  13. file — a document
  14. spring — the season
  15. file — a line of people
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. file — a tool
  24. deal — to handle

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