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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 · club · capital · plane · straw · stand · clip · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. capital — a city
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. club — for dancing
  6. clip — a video
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. club — a group
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. perch — the fish
  13. stand — to bear
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. club — for golf
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. plane — a tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. capital — money
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. clip — for paper
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. perch — for a bird

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