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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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Word bank
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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: coach · shower · cold · staff · face · land · perch · board

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. board — a committee
  4. staff — employees
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. land — a country
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. face — to confront
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — not warm
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — rain
  16. face — part of the head
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. board — to get on
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. staff — a stick
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. perch — the fish
  24. shower — to wash

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