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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. prune — to trim
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. swing — music
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cap — a lid
  11. swing — to play on
  12. degree — from a university
  13. swing — in golf
  14. degree — temperature
  15. clip — a video
  16. tube — the underground
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. prune — to trim
  23. chip — for betting
  24. perch — for a bird

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