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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 · band · perch · hide · rule · cell

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. rule — government
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. rule — a 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