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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — the tool
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. drill — army training
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — to tease
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. wake — a trail
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ball — a dance
  20. drill — a practice
  21. dip — to sink
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. dip — a sauce

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