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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mate — to breed
  4. net — after costs
  5. swing — in golf
  6. net — in sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. court — for sport
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. mate — a partner
  12. sharp — clever
  13. date — the fruit
  14. net — for catching
  15. court — of a king
  16. swing — to play on
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. court — of law
  19. swing — music
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. mate — a friend
  24. sharp — exactly

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