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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 · squash · row · wake · sharp · fall · kid · trunk

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — a trail
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. squash — the sport
  14. row — a line
  15. fall — the season
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. kid — child
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. fall — to drop
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. row — to paddle
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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