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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. perch — the fish
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. clip — to cut
  6. track — to keep track
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. season — in sport
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. clip — for paper
  11. season — of the year
  12. track — a path
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — a video
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. track — a song
  23. rest — a break
  24. perch — for a bird

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