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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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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: club · bass · perch · clip · key · row · scale · fall

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. row — a line
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. key — for a lock
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. club — a group
  8. scale — in music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. fall — to drop
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bass — low music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. perch — the fish
  15. key — in music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. fall — the season
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. key — the most important part
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. club — for golf
  22. row — to paddle
  23. fall — to drop
  24. club — for dancing

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