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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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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: wind · chip · court · perch · club · last · wake · saw

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. perch — the fish
  4. last — to go on
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. club — for golf
  7. last — finally
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. club — for dancing
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. court — of a king
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. court — for sport
  18. wake — a trail
  19. court — of law
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — a group
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — for betting

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