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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: field · lash · clip · perch · cell · racket · wound · spell

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wound — an injury
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. clip — for paper
  7. spell — letters
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spell — magic
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. spell — a short time
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — a subject
  24. racket — for tennis

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