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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: rule · straw · bark · tube · bat · face · fall · perch

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. fall — to drop
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. face — to confront
  6. fall — the season
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. perch — the fish
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rule — a law
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rule — government
  14. face — to point toward
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — the underground
  24. straw — a straw man

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