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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. march — the month
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. march — music
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. can — to be able to
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wake — a trail
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. march — the month

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