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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 120 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. face — to point toward
  3. chair — a leader
  4. spring — a coil
  5. face — part of the head
  6. perch — the fish
  7. charge — electricity
  8. shower — rain
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. shower — to wash
  13. spring — of water
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. face — to confront
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. charge — in control
  19. spring — the season
  20. tube — the underground
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tube — a container
  24. charge — a price

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