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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: perch · snap · cabinet · bat · hide · lean · patient · root

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. snap — to click
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. lean — to bend
  17. root — of a word
  18. perch — the fish
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — the cause
  23. lean — thin
  24. patient — a sick person

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