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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. clip — a video
  3. last — to go on
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. object — a thing
  6. clip — to cut
  7. spell — letters
  8. object — to protest
  9. perch — the fish
  10. spell — magic
  11. object — an aim
  12. ball — a dance
  13. last — final
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. rock — a stone
  18. foot — a measure
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spell — a short time
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. clip — for paper
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. last — finally

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