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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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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: straw · perch · fork · cold · spell · stick · bass · drill

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fork — in a road
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. perch — the fish
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — not warm
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bass — the fish
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spell — letters
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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