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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: march · chest · pound · perch · lash · cold · game · safe

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. march — music
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chest — of your body
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — a weight
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. game — a match
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. safe — a strongbox

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