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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: ball · arm · cold · perch · lash · saw · wake · game

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — an illness
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. perch — the fish
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — wild animals
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a great time
  13. game — a match
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. saw — the tool
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. arm — a part of something

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