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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pitch — completely
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. clip — for paper
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — music
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. swing — in golf
  15. kid — child
  16. clip — to cut
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pound — a weight
  20. kid — to tease
  21. perch — the fish
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — for dogs

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