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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
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: mine · clip · spell · mate · last · row · trunk · perch

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. spell — a short time
  5. last — final
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mate — a friend
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. perch — the fish
  10. row — a line
  11. spell — magic
  12. mine — for digging
  13. clip — a video
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. mate — a partner
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. last — to go on
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. clip — to cut
  21. row — to paddle
  22. last — finally
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spell — letters

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