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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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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 · cue · staff · chest · mine · straw · court · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. court — of law
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. court — of a king
  6. staff — employees
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. staff — a stick
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. staff — employees
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cue — for pool
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cue — a hint
  23. court — for sport
  24. cue — a signal

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