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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. branch — a division
  5. perch — the fish
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kid — to tease
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. roll — a cake
  17. spring — of water
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. roll — a list
  23. kid — child
  24. arm — part of the body

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