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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. perch — the fish
  5. mark — a trace
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. mark — a grade
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. fall — the season
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. fine — all right
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lie — to recline
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fine — high quality
  24. pitcher — a jug

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