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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. kid — to tease
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. hand — help
  7. perch — the fish
  8. swing — to play on
  9. can — a tin
  10. swing — in golf
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. can — a tin
  13. toast — bread
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. can — to be able to
  17. hand — in cards
  18. swing — music
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. field — farmland
  24. hand — part of the body

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