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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. spell — magic
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. spell — a short time
  8. track — a song
  9. spell — letters
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. last — final
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. track — to keep track
  15. rash — a series
  16. clip — for paper
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. last — to go on
  21. rash — hasty
  22. last — finally
  23. track — a path
  24. perch — the fish

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