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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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468
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: perch · clip · capital · bulb · lean · racket · cold · scale

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bulb — for light
  4. scale — in music
  5. capital — money
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. capital — a city
  9. lean — thin
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — a video
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — for paper
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bulb — for light
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. lean — to bend

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