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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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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: fall · pop · clip · drill · perch · sharp · hide · fork

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. drill — army training
  4. fall — to drop
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. fall — the season
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fall — to drop
  11. clip — a video
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. pop — music
  15. sharp — clever
  16. perch — the fish
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pop — to visit
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — a practice
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. pop — soda
  24. clip — for paper

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