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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.

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: cold · straw · staff · pass · mark · saw · hand · perch

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. perch — the fish
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — in cards
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — the tool
  17. hand — help
  18. cold — an illness
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. staff — a stick
  24. straw — dry grass

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