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

Word bank: face · wind · perch · arm · fork · cold · track · ruler

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. track — a path
  8. wind — moving air
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. track — a song
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. track — to keep track
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. face — part of the head
  17. perch — the fish
  18. face — to point toward
  19. fork — in a road
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — to turn a key

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