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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. ground — a position
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. swing — to play on
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — the fish
  8. ground — crushed
  9. swing — music
  10. ground — the earth
  11. current — electric
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. swing — in golf
  14. date — the fruit
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. clip — for paper
  17. content — the amount
  18. dip — to sink
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — of water
  21. content — happy
  22. clip — to cut
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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