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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pass — a permit
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. drill — a practice
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bat — the animal
  8. perch — the fish
  9. clip — a video
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. squash — to crush
  13. court — of law
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — for paper
  16. court — of a king
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. court — for sport
  21. drill — army training
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. drill — the tool
  24. pass — to succeed

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