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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. court — of law
  2. perch — the fish
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. march — the month
  7. current — happening now
  8. court — for sport
  9. last — to go on
  10. march — the month
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. last — finally
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — music
  15. last — final
  16. stem — to come from
  17. current — electric
  18. current — of water
  19. court — of a king
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rush — hurry
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stem — of a plant
  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