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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wound — an injury
  6. present — there
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. season — in sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pop — music
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. present — the time now
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. season — of the year
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pop — soda
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. present — a gift
  21. kick — in football
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. straw — dry grass

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