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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: swing · bat · field · clip · fan · scale · perch · degree

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. perch — the fish
  3. scale — in music
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. scale — size or range
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — for sport
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — the animal
  17. field — a subject
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — from a university
  20. swing — to play on
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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