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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: file · perch · chair · row · straw · wake · squash · band

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. file — a line of people
  3. band — a ring
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. chair — a leader
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. band — a music group
  11. file — a tool
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. row — to paddle
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. row — a line
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. file — a document
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. perch — the fish

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