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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: cabinet · suit · perch · shower · field · clip · chest · deal

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — a box
  3. suit — to fit
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. clip — a video
  7. suit — clothes
  8. chest — of your body
  9. field — for sport
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. suit — in cards
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. field — farmland
  15. clip — to cut
  16. deal — to handle
  17. field — a subject
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. chest — of your body
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. shower — rain
  24. perch — the fish

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