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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.

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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: bound · object · bat · shower · perch · file · wake · ball

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. object — to protest
  3. ball — a dance
  4. perch — the fish
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. ball — a great time
  8. file — a line of people
  9. object — an aim
  10. bound — certain
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bound — obliged
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — to wash
  18. object — a thing
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a document
  21. shower — rain
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bound — tied together
  24. file — a tool

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