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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: kid · racket · perch · leaves · file · bat · land · wave

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. file — a line of people
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. kid — child
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. kid — to tease
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a document

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