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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 120 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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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 · capital · perch · row · swing · bat · cue · bound

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. bat — the animal
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cue — a signal
  8. swing — music
  9. bound — tied together
  10. capital — money
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cue — for pool
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — a line
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cue — a hint

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