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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · degree · stock · coach · row · swing · patient · perch

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stock — goods
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. degree — an amount
  7. swing — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. perch — the fish
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. row — to paddle
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. stock — shares
  21. swing — in golf
  22. degree — from a university
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. row — a line

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