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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. season — of the year
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. vault — a safe
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. prune — to trim
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. clip — to cut
  15. sharp — clever
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. season — in sport
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. prune — to trim
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. wound — an injury
  24. clip — a video

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