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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. perch — the fish
  3. mark — a grade
  4. shower — to wash
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. squash — to crush
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. shower — rain
  11. season — of the year
  12. mark — a trace
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cell — in biology
  18. season — in sport
  19. clip — a video
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wax — for sculpting

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