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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 116 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: trunk · perch · straw · wave · nail · last · object · cold

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. last — to go on
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. object — to protest
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. object — an aim
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. last — final
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. object — a thing
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. last — finally
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cold — not warm
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. nail — for a hammer

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