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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: perch · lash · cap · row · game · pop · clip · file

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cap — of ice
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. game — a match
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pop — music
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. row — a line
  11. cap — a lid
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pop — soda
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. file — a document
  18. row — to paddle
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. perch — the fish
  23. file — a tool
  24. cap — a hat

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