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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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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: chest · track · cell · swing · wake · spell · racket · perch

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. perch — the fish
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. cell — a phone
  7. spell — letters
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spell — magic
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. track — a song
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. track — a path
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. cell — in biology
  18. swing — to play on
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. chest — a box
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. track — to keep track
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — a trail

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