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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. prune — to trim
  8. land — ground
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. land — to come down
  11. chest — a box
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — for paper
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. land — a country
  22. clip — to cut
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. clip — a video

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