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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: rock · wake · cold · kid · pit · perch · club · rush

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. kid — child
  4. club — for golf
  5. pit — a hole
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — a trail
  8. perch — the fish
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. pit — in a race
  18. club — for dancing
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rock — music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. club — a group

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