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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: arm · cold · degree · hide · lash · file · straw · perch

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a line of people
  4. degree — an amount
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — from a university
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. file — a tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. perch — the fish
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. hide — animal skin

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