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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: kid · swing · row · perch · spell · clip · calf · bound

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. swing — to play on
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. clip — a video
  9. bound — certain
  10. spell — letters
  11. kid — child
  12. swing — in golf
  13. clip — to cut
  14. swing — music
  15. bound — tied together
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bound — obliged
  19. kid — to tease
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spell — magic
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. spell — a short time

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