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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: race · staff · perch · field · straw · snap · stock · present

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to click
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. present — the time now
  6. field — a subject
  7. race — humankind
  8. field — farmland
  9. stock — goods
  10. staff — employees
  11. race — the arms race
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. staff — employees
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. staff — a stick
  20. race — a contest
  21. field — for sport
  22. stock — shares
  23. present — there
  24. present — a gift

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