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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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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: key · club · perch · chest · pitcher · clip · deal · row

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. clip — a video
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. club — for golf
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — the most important part
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. clip — to cut
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. perch — the fish
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chest — a box
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. club — a group
  18. key — in music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. clip — for paper
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. deal — to handle
  23. club — for dancing
  24. chest — of your body

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