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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  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 — the fish
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. roll — a list
  6. clip — for paper
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. capital — a city
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. roll — a cake
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. band — a music group
  16. clip — to cut
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. band — a ring
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. stand — to bear
  21. ball — a dance
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. ball — a great time
  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