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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. chair — a leader
  3. face — part of the head
  4. spring — a coil
  5. season — in sport
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. spring — of water
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. land — ground
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fall — to drop
  15. land — a country
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. spring — the season
  18. fall — the season
  19. face — to confront
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. land — to come down
  22. face — to point toward
  23. fall — to drop
  24. season — of the year

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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