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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: cap · march · kid · swing · perch · straw · tube · patient

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. march — the month
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. kid — child
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tube — the underground
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. march — music
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cap — of ice
  14. tube — a container
  15. swing — to play on
  16. perch — the fish
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cap — a hat
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. swing — music
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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