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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — a container
  3. net — after costs
  4. band — a ring
  5. perch — the fish
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — finally
  11. net — for catching
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tube — the underground
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. dip — to sink
  21. net — in sport
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a music group
  24. last — final

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