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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 120 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. kick — in football
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. perch — the fish
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. rush — hurry
  7. shower — rain
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cell — in biology
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pitch — completely
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. pitch — a sports field
  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