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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. board — to get on
  3. sharp — clever
  4. hand — in cards
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. clip — for paper
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — a phone
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. object — an aim
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. object — a thing
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. board — a committee
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. object — to protest

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