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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 120 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: chair · perch · shower · leaves · bass · clip · race · root

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. shower — to wash
  3. clip — for paper
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. bass — the fish
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. root — the cause
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. race — the arms race
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. root — of a word
  16. perch — the fish
  17. chair — a leader
  18. shower — rain
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bass — low music
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. clip — to cut

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