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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a line of people
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. degree — an amount
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in biology
  15. pass — a permit
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a tool
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. rush — hurry

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