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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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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: rush · cold · sharp · perch · plane · shower · bark · straw

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. shower — to wash
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — an illness
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. shower — rain
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — clever

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