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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: sharp · chair · face · spell · clip · cold · object · perch

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. object — a thing
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. perch — the fish
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chair — a leader
  16. face — to confront
  17. spell — letters
  18. object — to protest
  19. spell — a short time
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. spell — magic
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. object — an aim

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