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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: land · straw · stick · bear · pitch · wind · perch · rest

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. rest — a break
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pitch — completely
  9. land — to come down
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. land — a country
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. land — ground
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rest — what's left
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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