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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. court — for sport
  3. chest — of your body
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. press — to push
  10. perch — the fish
  11. mine — for digging
  12. press — a publisher
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. chest — a box
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — a video
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — for paper
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. dip — to dunk

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