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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: perch · board · spell · last · straw · current · scale · cold

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. spell — magic
  3. last — finally
  4. perch — the fish
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cold — not warm
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. scale — size or range
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. current — electric
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. board — a committee
  13. last — final
  14. spell — letters
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. spell — a short time
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. last — to go on
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. scale — in music
  24. board — to get on

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