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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 120 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. court — for sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — of a king
  9. season — of the year
  10. mug — a face
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. season — in sport
  13. mug — a cup
  14. rock — music
  15. mug — to rob
  16. spring — the season
  17. scale — in music
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. scale — size or range
  22. court — of law
  23. spring — a coil
  24. rock — a stone

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