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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: wake · perch · pit · bass · clip · rash · fine · cold

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. clip — a video
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rash — a series
  9. fine — all right
  10. bass — low music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. perch — the fish
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bass — the fish
  16. wake — a trail
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fine — high quality

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