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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · straw · perch · club · scale · current · spring · last

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. club — for golf
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. spring — the season
  5. last — finally
  6. current — happening now
  7. last — final
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. scale — size or range
  11. club — a group
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. last — to go on
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. scale — in music
  16. spring — of water
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. club — for dancing
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. perch — the fish
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chair — a leader

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