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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: ruler · wake · cold · lash · present · perch · last · scale

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. present — a gift
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. last — to go on
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. last — final
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. last — finally
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. present — there
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. present — the time now

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