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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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 · mine · fan · bear · last · rule · clip · leaves

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. last — finally
  5. rule — government
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rule — a law
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. perch — the fish
  19. last — to go on
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. last — final

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