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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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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: clip · net · rule · cold · fork · perch · bat · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. rule — government
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cap — a lid
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — for catching
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. perch — the fish
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rule — a law
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cap — of ice
  22. net — after costs
  23. fork — in a road
  24. perch — for a bird

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