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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: chest · kid · perch · bulb · wind · track · row · pass

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. track — to keep track
  4. row — a line
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — the fish
  7. bulb — for light
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. track — a path
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — child
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — a box
  23. kid — to tease
  24. track — a song

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