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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: clip · perch · wave · shower · bat · board · cell · lie

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. board — to get on
  4. board — a committee
  5. perch — the fish
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — to wash
  13. clip — to cut
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bat — the animal
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — rain
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cell — a phone
  24. lie — to recline

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