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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. face — part of the head
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. spell — letters
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. board — a committee
  10. perch — the fish
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spell — magic
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. board — to get on
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — to confront
  17. shower — rain
  18. spell — a short time

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