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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mate — a friend
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. rest — what's left
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rest — a break
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — in a race
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cold — an illness
  17. shower — rain
  18. perch — the fish
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bat — the animal
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. mate — to breed

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