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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. clip — to cut
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wax — to grow
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — money
  13. rest — a break
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — boats
  20. perch — the fish
  21. clip — a video
  22. capital — a city
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — a cake

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