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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rule — government
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rule — a law
  5. row — a line
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — final
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. perch — the fish
  10. cell — in biology
  11. last — finally
  12. board — a committee
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. row — to paddle
  15. present — a gift
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — a video
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. board — to get on
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. last — to go on

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