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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: perch · chest · ruler · racket · straw · march · cell · club

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. march — the month
  3. club — for golf
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — of your body
  6. perch — the fish
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chest — a box
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. club — a group
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — for dancing
  24. cell — in biology

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