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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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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: firm · date · wake · perch · shower · cold · stick · straw

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — not warm
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. firm — steady
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. firm — decided
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — to wash
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. shower — rain
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. perch — the fish
  22. firm — a company
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cold — an illness

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