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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. swing — music
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. squash — to crush
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. perch — the fish
  13. chair — a leader
  14. swing — in golf
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — a video
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bat — the animal
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. squash — the sport
  22. clip — to cut
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — for paper

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