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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: band · racket · scale · straw · net · perch · tear · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. band — a music group
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. tear — from crying
  6. net — after costs
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tear — to rip
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. perch — the fish
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. band — a ring
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. net — for catching
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. scale — size or range
  24. band — a rubber band

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