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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: fall · plane · perch · file · saw · last · stick · cold

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. last — final
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. file — a line of people
  8. last — to go on
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. saw — the tool
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — finally
  17. file — a tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cold — not warm
  22. file — a document
  23. plane — a tool
  24. fall — to drop

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