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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. board — to get on
  4. board — a committee
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. game — wild animals
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. swing — to play on
  14. scale — in music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. swing — in golf
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. track — a song
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. clip — a video
  22. swing — music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. clip — to cut

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