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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: bulb · perch · shower · swing · fall · ground · clip · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. fall — to drop
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. shower — to wash
  5. clip — a video
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bulb — for light
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bulb — for light
  13. clip — for paper
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. ground — a position
  17. fall — the season
  18. swing — in golf
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ground — the earth
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ground — crushed

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