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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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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: wax · temple · hand · cap · perch · fall · pop · straw

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pop — music
  4. pop — soda
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pop — to visit
  9. fall — to drop
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. hand — help
  12. fall — to drop
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fall — the season
  16. wax — to grow
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cap — a lid
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  24. perch — the fish

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