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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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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: perch · fork · cold · bay · last · pass · fan · clip

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. last — final
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fork — in a road
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. last — finally
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. clip — a video
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. last — to go on
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pass — a permit

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