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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pop — soda
  7. perch — the fish
  8. band — a ring
  9. ground — a position
  10. chest — a box
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — to bear
  13. ground — the earth
  14. clip — a video
  15. ground — crushed
  16. clip — for paper
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. pop — to visit
  20. chest — of your body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. band — a music group
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. pop — music

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