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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: content · squash · perch · root · clip · tear · season · game

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — in sport
  4. tear — to rip
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. squash — the sport
  7. clip — a video
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. root — the cause
  10. tear — from crying
  11. content — happy
  12. root — of a word
  13. squash — to crush
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. game — a match
  17. perch — the fish
  18. root — of a plant
  19. content — the amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. clip — to cut

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