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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. object — to protest
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. band — a ring
  9. object — an aim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. object — a thing
  12. ground — crushed
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. band — a music group
  19. degree — an amount
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. perch — the fish
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. prune — to trim

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