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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bass — the fish
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. content — the amount
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — to paddle
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bat — the animal
  21. branch — a division
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — low music
  24. row — a line

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