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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. perch — the fish
  4. field — a subject
  5. capital — a city
  6. clip — for paper
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. field — farmland
  14. capital — money
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rock — music
  18. field — for sport
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wound — an injury
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. clip — a video
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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