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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. key — in music
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. last — finally
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. root — the cause
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — to go on
  18. key — the most important part
  19. clip — for paper
  20. key — for a lock
  21. clip — a video
  22. last — final
  23. cold — an illness
  24. root — of a word

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