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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  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. mark — a trace
  2. wound — an injury
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. fork — in a road
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. object — to protest
  10. object — an aim
  11. object — a thing
  12. clip — for paper
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mark — a grade
  17. season — of the year
  18. clip — a video
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cold — not warm
  23. season — in sport
  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