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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: bat · leaves · pound · cap · file · clip · perch · roll

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. clip — a video
  5. roll — a cake
  6. cap — of ice
  7. roll — a list
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — the animal
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cap — a hat
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. pound — a weight
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — to cut
  24. perch — the fish

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