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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fall — to drop
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. drill — the tool
  10. roll — a list
  11. rest — what's left
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. roll — a cake
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rest — a break
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rest — what's left
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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