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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 120 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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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: perch · straw · cell · patient · game · squash · mine · bowl

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cell — in biology
  7. squash — to crush
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. perch — the fish
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mine — for digging
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bowl — a dish

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