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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: sharp · perch · club · field · cell · content · clip · safe

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. content — happy
  3. sharp — clever
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. club — for golf
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. club — for dancing
  8. clip — a video
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cell — a phone
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. field — farmland
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. perch — the fish
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. clip — to cut
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. content — the amount
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. club — a group
  24. field — a subject

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