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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 120 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: capital · perch · season · game · fan · trunk · clip · mark

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. clip — to cut
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. clip — a video
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a city
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. season — in sport
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. season — of the year
  23. game — a match
  24. capital — money

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