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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 116 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: clip · swing · content · perch · pop · saw · shower · band

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  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. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pop — soda
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. band — a ring
  7. pop — music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — to cut
  10. saw — the tool
  11. swing — to play on
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. band — a music group
  14. shower — to wash
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. shower — rain
  17. saw — the tool
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. clip — a video
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. pop — to visit
  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