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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  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. bulb — for light
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. land — ground
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. land — to come down
  7. firm — decided
  8. firm — steady
  9. sharp — clever
  10. clip — a video
  11. row — a line
  12. firm — a company
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bulb — for light
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — to cut
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. land — a country
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bulb — of a plant
  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