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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. rock — music
  4. land — a country
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — to cut
  7. saw — the tool
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — the animal
  12. land — to come down
  13. rock — a stone
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. land — ground
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. clip — a video

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