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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · rush · kick · wound · content · net · field · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. net — for catching
  10. perch — the fish
  11. field — for sport
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. net — in sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. net — after costs
  16. kick — in football
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kick — with a leg

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