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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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Word bank
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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: perch · chest · tear · court · straw · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. tear — to rip
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — a gift
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. chest — of your body
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. chest — a box
  13. court — for sport
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. perch — the fish
  16. court — of a king
  17. tear — from crying
  18. court — of law

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