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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. roll — a cake
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. snap — to click
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. scale — in music
  10. perch — the fish
  11. field — farmland
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. clip — for paper
  18. roll — a list
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. clip — a video
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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