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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tear — to rip
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bulb — for light
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pit — a hole
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. court — of law
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pit — in a race
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — a video
  20. court — for sport
  21. spring — the season
  22. court — of a king
  23. bulb — for light
  24. perch — the fish

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