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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cell — in biology
  3. last — finally
  4. spell — magic
  5. last — final
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ground — the earth
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cell — a phone
  15. ground — crushed
  16. clip — a video
  17. ground — a position
  18. bulb — for light
  19. last — to go on
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — for paper
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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