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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: rash · perch · club · cold · bark · straw · craft · wind

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. craft — a skill
  4. rash — hasty
  5. club — a group
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — a series
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for golf
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. craft — boats
  23. cold — an illness
  24. perch — the fish

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