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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: file · cell · row · bulb · march · wound · band · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — the month
  4. file — a line of people
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — to paddle
  8. march — the month
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. row — a line
  11. cell — a phone
  12. band — a music group
  13. march — music
  14. bulb — for light
  15. file — a document
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bulb — for light
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. file — a tool
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. band — a ring
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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