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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. clip — a video
  3. perch — the fish
  4. court — for sport
  5. swing — to play on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. court — of law
  9. tube — a container
  10. mark — a trace
  11. court — of a king
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. chair — a leader
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tube — the underground
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. mark — a grade
  24. perch — for a bird

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