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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: cell · bat · drill · straw · perch · scale · pop · patient

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. scale — in music
  10. cell — a phone
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pop — music
  15. drill — army training
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. perch — the fish
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — the tool
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cell — in biology

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