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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: game · straw · dip · fan · bound · bat · wax · perch

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bound — tied together
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. game — wild animals
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bound — certain
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. game — a match
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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