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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: perch · cell · wound · kick · wax · bat · rash · chip

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chip — for betting
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. chip — to eat
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. kick — in football
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rash — a series
  24. kick — with a leg

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