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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — moving air
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. suit — clothes
  5. suit — in cards
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — a video
  12. game — a match
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. hand — in cards
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. perch — the fish
  19. hand — help
  20. clip — for paper
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. suit — to fit
  23. row — a line
  24. capital — a big letter

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