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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: jam · cold · pit · bulb · game · clip · perch · staff

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pit — a hole
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bulb — for light
  7. game — wild animals
  8. clip — a video
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. clip — to cut
  11. staff — employees
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pit — in a race
  14. game — a match
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. clip — for paper
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. staff — employees
  22. cold — not warm
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. game — a kind of play

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