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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. clip — a video
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. mine — for digging
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fine — all right
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. perch — the fish
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — for paper
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fine — high quality
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. game — a match
  23. rash — a series
  24. mine — an explosive

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