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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. race — the arms race
  4. roll — a cake
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. firm — steady
  7. clip — to cut
  8. firm — a company
  9. roll — a list
  10. swing — to play on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. swing — in golf
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. race — a contest
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. swing — music
  17. clip — a video
  18. firm — decided
  19. race — humankind
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. perch — the fish

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