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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cap — a hat
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. clip — a video
  13. sharp — clever
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — for paper
  23. racket — for tennis
  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