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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cap — a hat
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cap — a lid
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. face — to confront
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. face — part of the head
  13. game — wild animals
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cap — of ice
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. face — to point toward
  21. band — a ring
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. band — a music group

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