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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: clip · ground · perch · bulb · last · bat · fan · racket

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. ground — a position
  3. bulb — for light
  4. clip — to cut
  5. last — finally
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. last — final
  8. clip — a video
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bat — the animal
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. perch — the fish
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. ground — crushed
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bulb — for light
  24. ground — the earth

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