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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. face — to confront
  3. pop — to visit
  4. perch — the fish
  5. face — part of the head
  6. rule — government
  7. pop — music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — for sport
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. face — to point toward
  15. rash — hasty
  16. pop — soda
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rash — a series
  19. season — in sport
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — a law
  22. clip — to cut
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. season — of the year

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