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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: perch · rule · clip · cell · spell · rest · ball · track

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. spell — letters
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rest — a break
  5. rest — what's left
  6. track — a path
  7. rule — a law
  8. cell — in biology
  9. track — a song
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — magic
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rule — government
  16. track — to keep track
  17. spell — a short time
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. perch — the fish
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cell — a phone
  24. clip — a video

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