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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: perch · ground · bat · band · roll · firm · nail · clip

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. firm — steady
  4. perch — the fish
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. ground — a position
  8. firm — a company
  9. roll — a cake
  10. ground — crushed
  11. roll — a list
  12. band — a music group
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. clip — to cut
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bat — the animal
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a ring

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