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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — a video
  23. drill — army training
  24. clip — to cut

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