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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 · tear · file · club · date · stand · track · mine

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. tear — from crying
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. date — the fruit
  10. mine — for digging
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — to rip
  14. file — a tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. track — a song
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. track — a path
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stand — to bear
  24. track — to keep track

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