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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. bat — the animal
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fine — high quality
  8. perch — the fish
  9. clip — for paper
  10. ball — a dance
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — a thing
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. clip — to cut
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a great time
  18. clip — a video
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. fine — all right
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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