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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
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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: calf · perch · cell · mine · land · chair · bass · clip

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. clip — a video
  9. bass — low music
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. clip — to cut
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cell — a phone
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. land — ground
  16. bass — the fish
  17. land — a country
  18. cell — in biology
  19. perch — the fish
  20. land — to come down
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. clip — for paper

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