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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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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: straw · date · perch · cell · shower · kick · net · staff

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. net — after costs
  5. kick — in football
  6. shower — to wash
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cell — in biology
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. perch — the fish
  14. net — for catching
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. net — in sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cell — a phone
  20. staff — employees
  21. shower — rain
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. date — the fruit
  24. straw — dry grass

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