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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 120 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: straw · ball · pass · capital · cold · perch · pitcher · pound

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. perch — the fish
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. ball — a great time
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — a city
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ball — a dance
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — money
  24. pass — a permit

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