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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 · stock · march · bat · perch · board · lash · rule

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. board — to get on
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. march — music
  10. perch — the fish
  11. board — a committee
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. rule — a law
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. rule — government
  24. bat — in an idiom

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