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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. clip — a video
  6. content — the amount
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. last — finally
  15. deal — to handle
  16. content — happy
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stock — goods
  19. vault — a safe
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. stock — shares
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. perch — the fish

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