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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chest — of your body
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. can — a tin
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. clip — a video
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. can — a tin
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. chest — a box
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. stand — to bear
  19. face — to confront
  20. perch — the fish
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. can — to be able to
  24. stand — for spectators

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