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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. rash — hasty
  6. perch — the fish
  7. press — a publisher
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — to play on
  10. rash — a series
  11. press — to push
  12. swing — music
  13. bore — to tire
  14. press — newspapers
  15. clip — a video
  16. season — in sport
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bore — to drill
  23. swing — in golf
  24. rash — on the skin

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