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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: mine · straw · bore · cell · bat · perch · hand · swing

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. hand — help
  5. cell — in biology
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bore — to drill
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. swing — music
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. cell — a phone
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bat — the animal
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. swing — to play on
  19. mine — for digging
  20. hand — in cards
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bore — to tire

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