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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 120 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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. band — a music group
  8. clip — a video
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. game — a match
  13. band — a ring
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. game — wild animals
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. clip — to cut
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. clip — for paper
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — of the sea

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