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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · clip · swing · perch · chest · wax · plane · stock

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. plane — a tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — music
  10. stock — goods
  11. wax — to grow
  12. swing — in golf
  13. perch — the fish
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. court — of a king
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — to play on
  18. stock — shares
  19. court — for sport
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — to cut
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. court — of law

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