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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. present — the time now
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. perch — the fish
  7. present — a gift
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pop — to visit
  14. present — there
  15. stock — goods
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. pop — soda
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stock — shares
  23. pop — music
  24. clip — a video

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