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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: face · saw · clip · band · perch · season · row · fine

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. clip — to cut
  3. season — in sport
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. band — a music group
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — all right
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. saw — the tool
  20. perch — the fish
  21. face — to confront
  22. fine — high quality
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. band — a ring

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