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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 116 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rash — a series
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. kid — child
  7. last — finally
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. squash — the sport
  12. rash — hasty
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. perch — the fish
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. last — final
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wake — a trail
  24. last — to go 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