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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kid — to tease
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. rash — hasty
  10. stand — to bear
  11. net — after costs
  12. rash — a series
  13. kid — child
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. march — the month
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. march — the month
  21. net — for catching
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. march — music
  24. net — in sport

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