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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. kid — to tease
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stand — to bear
  9. charge — in control
  10. chest — a box
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rash — a series
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — hasty
  18. charge — a price
  19. chest — of your body
  20. perch — the fish
  21. kid — child
  22. charge — electricity
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — the Cold War

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