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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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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: field · perch · lash · bat · game · drill

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. game — a match
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. drill — army training
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. game — wild animals
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. drill — a practice
  10. field — farmland
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — for sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. drill — the tool
  17. field — a subject
  18. lash — a whip stroke

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