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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: plane · race · clip · shower · perch · chair · saw · stock

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. race — humankind
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. shower — rain
  5. chair — a leader
  6. race — the arms race
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. stock — shares
  14. clip — for paper
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — to wash
  17. saw — the tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. plane — a tool
  23. perch — the fish
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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