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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: swing · saw · hand · last · mouse · pitcher · perch · bat

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. hand — help
  3. swing — music
  4. last — final
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. swing — to play on
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. swing — in golf
  11. saw — the tool
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. perch — the fish
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. last — to go on
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. last — finally
  24. hand — in cards

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