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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · perch · fan · current · prune · court · row · mine

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. current — of water
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. court — of a king
  8. mine — for digging
  9. court — of law
  10. prune — to trim
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. current — happening now
  22. current — electric
  23. perch — the fish
  24. court — for sport

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