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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 120 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: shower · clip · bass · fine · perch · pitcher · content · calf

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. content — happy
  6. shower — rain
  7. fine — high quality
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — the amount
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — a video
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. fine — all right
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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