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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. cold — not warm
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. staff — employees
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hand — help
  11. staff — employees
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. perch — the fish
  20. degree — temperature
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. coach — a trainer

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