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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. hand — help
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. clip — for paper
  8. capital — money
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. suit — in cards
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. suit — to fit
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. suit — clothes
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. perch — the fish
  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