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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. press — to push
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. perch — the fish
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mark — a trace
  13. press — a publisher
  14. hand — in cards
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. season — in sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bulb — for light
  21. hand — help
  22. season — of the year
  23. press — newspapers
  24. clip — to cut

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