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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. face — part of the head
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — an illness
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. chair — a leader
  15. face — to confront
  16. fall — to drop
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. face — to point toward
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. fall — the season
  24. ruler — for measuring

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