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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.

Make a worksheet

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: row · capital · clip · scale · date · bass · key · perch

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. key — the most important part
  3. scale — size or range
  4. key — for a lock
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bass — low music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. scale — in music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — to cut
  13. date — the fruit
  14. bass — the fish
  15. capital — a city
  16. row — a line
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. key — in music
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. perch — the fish
  21. row — to paddle
  22. clip — a video
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. scale — for weighing

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