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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: perch · capital · straw · track · coach · game · rush · bat

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. capital — a city
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. track — a song
  5. bat — the animal
  6. track — a path
  7. rush — hurry
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. perch — the fish
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. game — a match
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. track — to keep track
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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