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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 · mouse · perch · file · kid · march · fall · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. file — a line of people
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. file — a document
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. file — a tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. kid — child
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fall — the season
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. march — the month

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