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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: spell · straw · cap · chest · racket · content · perch · pitch

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  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. cap — of ice
  2. chest — a box
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. spell — a short time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. spell — letters
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cap — a hat
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. pitch — completely
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. content — the amount
  21. cap — a lid
  22. spell — magic
  23. racket — a loud noise
  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