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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: wind · straw · perch · wound · last · branch · club · racket

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wound — an injury
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. branch — a division
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — final
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — finally
  15. perch — the fish
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. club — for golf
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. club — a group
  24. branch — of a tree

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