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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 · sharp · cold · bowl · court · stem · perch · mouse

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. court — for sport
  3. stem — to come from
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cold — an illness
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. court — of law
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. court — of a king
  24. sharp — clever

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