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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: trunk · patient · wake · last · swing · bat · mine · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. last — finally
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — the fish
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. swing — in golf
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. last — to go on
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. swing — to play on
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. last — final
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. swing — music

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