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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.

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: perch · bat · straw · season · clip · coach · ground · calf

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. ground — crushed
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. season — of the year
  9. ground — the earth
  10. clip — to cut
  11. perch — the fish
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ground — a position
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. season — in sport
  19. clip — a video
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bat — in an idiom

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