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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. fall — the season
  5. pop — to visit
  6. fall — to drop
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. perch — the fish
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. dip — to sink
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fall — to drop
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — for paper
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pop — music
  20. clip — a video
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. saw — the tool
  23. prune — to trim
  24. patient — a sick person

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