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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 116 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chip — to eat
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. snap — to click
  9. shower — rain
  10. chip — for betting
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cell — in biology
  13. face — part of the head
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. face — to confront
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. face — to point toward
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cell — a phone
  24. lie — to recline

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