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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  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. perch — the fish
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stock — shares
  5. rash — a series
  6. season — in sport
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bound — tied together
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. season — of the year
  17. rash — hasty
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bound — certain
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stock — goods
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bound — obliged
  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