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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. object — a thing
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. field — for sport
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — the fish
  8. hand — help
  9. object — an aim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. field — farmland
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — in control
  15. object — to protest
  16. band — a music group
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. plane — a tool
  20. clip — for paper
  21. field — a subject
  22. charge — a price
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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