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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: arm · rock · cold · bowl · straw · perch · land · track

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. track — a path
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — not warm
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. land — ground
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rock — music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. land — to come down
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. rock — a stone
  24. bowl — a football final

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