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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 120 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  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. net — in sport
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — all right
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. key — for a lock
  6. net — after costs
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. cell — in biology
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — for catching
  11. key — in music
  12. fine — high quality
  13. game — wild animals
  14. clip — a video
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. key — the most important part
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — a match
  23. cell — a phone
  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