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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: race · degree · saw · straw · bat · wound · bore · perch

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. degree — from a university
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — an injury
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. race — humankind
  9. degree — an amount
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. saw — the tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. race — a contest
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bore — to drill
  20. saw — the tool
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bore — to tire
  24. straw — a straw man

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