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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. swing — music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cue — a signal
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. chest — a box
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — the fish
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cue — a hint
  23. pitch — completely
  24. swing — to play on

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