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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 124 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — to cut
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. clip — a video
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. game — a match
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — from a university
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. perch — the fish
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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