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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: clip · bat · firm · squash · shower · perch · march · bulb

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. shower — rain
  9. firm — a company
  10. shower — to wash
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. firm — steady
  13. perch — the fish
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. squash — the sport
  17. march — music
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. march — the month
  20. firm — decided
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bat — in an idiom

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