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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. ground — crushed
  3. perch — the fish
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. ground — the earth
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. root — of a plant
  13. wound — an injury
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. root — of a word
  18. game — a match
  19. clip — a video
  20. stand — to bear
  21. root — the cause
  22. ground — a position
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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