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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — a series
  5. present — the time now
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. present — there
  9. perch — the fish
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bear — the animal
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — a stick
  15. content — the amount
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bear — the animal
  22. present — a gift
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — videos and posts

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