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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. firm — decided
  12. chair — a leader
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — an injury
  16. firm — steady
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wind — moving air
  20. firm — a company
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cold — not warm
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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