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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: swing · kid · file · mine · pitcher · perch · calf · present

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. file — a line of people
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. present — the time now
  10. mine — for digging
  11. perch — the fish
  12. kid — child
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. present — a gift
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. present — there
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. swing — music
  24. perch — for a bird

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