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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · press · cold · ball · track · net · perch · firm

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. firm — a company
  3. ball — a great time
  4. track — a song
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. firm — decided
  8. press — to push
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. firm — steady
  14. press — newspapers
  15. net — after costs
  16. press — a publisher
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a path
  20. net — for catching
  21. track — to keep track
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. net — in sport
  24. ball — a dance

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