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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 116 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: kid · wound · straw · snap · perch · lie · pitcher · march

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. kid — to tease
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. snap — to click
  8. kid — child
  9. wound — an injury
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. perch — the fish
  16. wound — an injury
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. march — music
  21. lie — to recline
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. march — the month

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