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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: ruler · perch · face · branch · hand · cold · court · cue

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. face — to confront
  3. perch — the fish
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cue — a signal
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. cue — a hint
  8. court — of law
  9. face — to point toward
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — help
  12. cue — for pool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — for sport
  16. face — part of the head
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. court — of a king
  24. ruler — for measuring

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