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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: fall · trunk · straw · squash · racket · bat · spell · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. spell — magic
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. squash — to crush
  10. fall — to drop
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spell — letters
  18. bat — the animal
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fall — to drop
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. fall — the season
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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