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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: clip · perch · scale · current · cell · wound · saw · last

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wound — an injury
  3. clip — for paper
  4. current — electric
  5. clip — a video
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. last — final
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. current — of water
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wound — an injury
  18. scale — in music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. clip — to cut
  24. current — happening now

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