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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: bat · coach · firm · cold · last · perch · rest · bass

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bat — the animal
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. bass — low music
  7. rest — what's left
  8. last — to go on
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — final
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. last — finally
  15. rest — a break
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bass — the fish
  18. rest — what's left
  19. firm — a company
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. firm — decided
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. firm — steady
  24. bat — for baseball

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