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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: perch · clip · fan · stem · club · stand · land · chip

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. chip — to eat
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. club — for dancing
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. club — for golf
  10. chip — for betting
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — to come down
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. clip — a video
  20. land — ground
  21. club — a group
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. land — a country
  24. stand — to bear

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