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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: sharp · clip · bound · perch · shower · trunk · fall · net

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fall — the season
  4. shower — rain
  5. fall — to drop
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — after costs
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bound — certain
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bound — tied together
  12. clip — a video
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. bound — obliged
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. perch — the fish
  19. net — for catching
  20. clip — to cut
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fall — to drop
  23. net — in sport
  24. shower — to wash

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