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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: perch · mug · current · cold · prune · land · cabinet · clip

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. clip — a video
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — the fish
  7. land — to come down
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. mug — to rob
  10. current — electric
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. mug — a face
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. current — of water
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. prune — to trim
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. current — happening now
  24. mug — a cup

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