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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. scale — size or range
  4. land — a country
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pit — a hole
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pit — in a race
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — to cut
  12. perch — the fish
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — for paper
  17. field — farmland
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. scale — in music
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. land — ground
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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