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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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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: perch · scale · clip · foot · roll · mouse · spring · tube

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. scale — size or range
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — a container
  6. spring — of water
  7. roll — a cake
  8. clip — for paper
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. perch — the fish
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. spring — a coil
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. spring — the season
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. tube — the underground
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. roll — a list
  24. mouse — the animal

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