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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. clip — a video
  3. bear — the animal
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bear — the animal
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. perch — the fish
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. cold — an illness
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. object — to protest
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pit — in a race
  22. object — an aim
  23. bore — to drill
  24. wind — to turn a key

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