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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: perch · kid · kick · squash · rash · cap · last · scale

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. last — final
  3. kid — to tease
  4. squash — to crush
  5. perch — the fish
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. cap — a hat
  8. rash — hasty
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. squash — the sport
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cap — of ice
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cap — a lid
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. last — to go on
  20. kick — in football
  21. last — finally
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. perch — for a bird

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