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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. shower — rain
  9. scale — in music
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. face — to confront
  14. scale — size or range
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. face — part of the head
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — not warm
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. perch — the fish
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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