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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: bat · ground · hand · perch · game · mine · last · press

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ground — a position
  7. hand — help
  8. last — to go on
  9. press — newspapers
  10. last — finally
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. game — a match
  14. press — a publisher
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. press — to push
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mine — for digging
  20. game — wild animals
  21. ground — the earth
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — final

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