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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. season — of the year
  6. clip — to cut
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. file — a tool
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mine — for digging
  11. charge — a price
  12. file — a document
  13. root — the cause
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. clip — a video
  16. root — of a plant
  17. bear — the animal
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. root — of a word
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — in control
  23. file — a line of people
  24. charge — electricity

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