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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: squash · kick · straw · club · bat · hand · race · perch

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. race — the arms race
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. club — for dancing
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. race — humankind
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hand — in cards
  10. club — for golf
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. kick — in football
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. club — a group
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. race — a contest
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. hand — help
  22. squash — the sport
  23. perch — the fish
  24. straw — a straw man

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