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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. perch — the fish
  2. ground — crushed
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. swing — music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. chair — a leader
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. ground — a position
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stock — goods
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. swing — to play on
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bat — the animal
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. swing — in golf
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. stock — shares
  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