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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: cue · perch · stand · chest · clip · patient · saw · bat

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. perch — the fish
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cue — a signal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stand — to bear
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — for pool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cue — a hint
  19. chest — a box
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. clip — a video
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. chest — of your body
  24. perch — for a bird

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