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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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. dip — to dunk
  4. foot — a measure
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. clip — to cut
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. cell — in biology
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — of the year
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. cell — a phone
  24. perch — for a bird

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