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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: wave · clip · court · net · perch · bank · sharp · spring

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bank — of a river
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. court — of a king
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spring — a coil
  11. court — for sport
  12. bank — for money
  13. net — in sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. net — for catching
  16. bank — for money
  17. court — of law
  18. spring — the season
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. perch — the fish
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. perch — for a bird

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