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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. clip — a video
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. clip — to cut
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. saw — the tool
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. present — the time now
  12. fall — to drop
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fall — the season
  15. game — a match
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — from a university
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. degree — temperature
  22. present — there
  23. saw — the tool
  24. game — a kind of play

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