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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lean · kick · race · cold · present · perch

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. race — a contest
  5. lean — thin
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — to bend
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. perch — the fish
  14. present — there
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — a gift
  17. cold — an illness
  18. perch — for a bird

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