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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. pop — to visit
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. suit — in cards
  6. suit — clothes
  7. court — of a king
  8. suit — to fit
  9. pop — soda
  10. chest — a box
  11. pop — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. shower — to wash
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — for paper
  17. staff — employees
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. court — for sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — a video
  23. shower — rain
  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