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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. perch — the fish
  11. row — to paddle
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wound — an injury
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — a video
  16. net — for catching
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chair — a leader
  19. row — a line
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mine — for digging
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. clip — for paper

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