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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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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: band · ground · straw · swing · perch · nail · ball · fall

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ball — a dance
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. band — a ring
  9. ball — a great time
  10. band — a music group
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fall — to drop
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fall — the season
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — a position
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. nail — for a hammer

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