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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. season — in sport
  3. drill — army training
  4. press — to push
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. drill — a practice
  7. kid — to tease
  8. season — of the year
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rash — hasty
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — to point toward
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. perch — the fish
  16. kid — child
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. rash — a series
  19. game — wild animals
  20. press — newspapers
  21. game — a match
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. press — a publisher

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