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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: straw · bowl · cold · coach · perch · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. perch — the fish
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. chip — in a computer

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