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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · rash · face · coach · shower · snap · perch · bound

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bound — certain
  6. face — to confront
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — a series
  9. cold — an illness
  10. shower — to wash
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rash — hasty
  13. face — to point toward
  14. perch — the fish
  15. snap — to click
  16. bound — tied together
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bound — obliged
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. shower — rain
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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