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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 124 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. degree — from a university
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. charge — in control
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mate — to breed
  9. capital — a city
  10. clip — to cut
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. mate — a friend
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — an amount
  15. capital — money
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mate — a partner
  19. charge — electricity
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. charge — a price
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — a video
  24. ruler — a monarch

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