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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — a short time
  5. clip — a video
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bass — the fish
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. clip — to cut
  13. field — for sport
  14. perch — the fish
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bass — low music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. spell — letters
  21. field — a subject
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bass — the instrument

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