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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: scale · net · swing · clip · perch · field · snap · present

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. net — after costs
  6. swing — music
  7. scale — in music
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. present — a gift
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. present — there
  12. perch — the fish
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. net — in sport
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. present — the time now
  18. swing — in golf
  19. snap — to click
  20. scale — size or range
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. field — for sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. scale — for weighing

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