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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: capital · board · clip · perch · kid · game · stick · content

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — a video
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. board — to get on
  8. clip — to cut
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. capital — a city
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. clip — for paper
  15. capital — money
  16. game — a match
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. content — happy
  19. board — a committee
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. content — the amount
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. capital — a big letter

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