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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: straw · game · bowl · bay · perch · board · kid · clip

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. kid — child
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. kid — to tease
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — a video
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. clip — for paper
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. game — wild animals
  19. board — to get on
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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