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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. perch — the fish
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. rock — a stone
  10. kid — to tease
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rock — music
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitch — completely
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. chest — a box

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