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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: chest · season · rush · rash · perch · roll · clip · scale

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. scale — in music
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. perch — the fish
  6. clip — a video
  7. season — in sport
  8. rash — hasty
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. scale — size or range
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. clip — to cut
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. clip — for paper
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. roll — a cake
  22. rash — a series
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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