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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 120 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. chest — a box
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mate — a friend
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. mate — to breed
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. chest — of your body
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mate — a partner
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — dry grass
  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