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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. perch — the fish
  7. clip — to cut
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. clip — for paper
  10. last — finally
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. clip — a video
  14. ground — a position
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. snap — to click
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. last — to go on
  19. shower — rain
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. ground — the earth
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. last — final

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