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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. squash — to crush
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. perch — the fish
  8. chair — a leader
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. hand — help
  11. chest — of your body
  12. squash — the sport
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. hand — in cards
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. coach — a trainer
  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