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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pop — music
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. drill — a practice
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. last — finally
  10. pop — soda
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pop — to visit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — to go on
  15. ball — a great time
  16. clip — a video
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. last — final
  19. perch — the fish
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. ball — a dance
  24. fan — to cool the air

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