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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: land · perch · jam · saw · chair · club · tear · pop

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pop — music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. pop — to visit
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. chair — a leader
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — for golf
  10. pop — soda
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. saw — the tool
  13. land — a country
  14. club — a group
  15. tear — to rip
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. land — to come down
  20. perch — the fish
  21. tear — from crying
  22. saw — the tool
  23. land — ground
  24. chair — to sit on

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