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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  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. land — ground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. object — to protest
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rule — a law
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rule — government
  8. cap — a lid
  9. land — to come down
  10. cap — of ice
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. land — a country
  16. object — an aim
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. perch — the fish
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. object — a thing
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — help
  23. cap — a hat
  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