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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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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: stick · patient · perch · wound · straw · swing · march · cold

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. march — music
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wound — an injury
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — in golf
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — not warm
  22. perch — the fish
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. march — the month

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