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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.

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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 · wind · face · fork · fall · cold · chip · sharp

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to confront
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chip — for betting
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. perch — the fish
  20. face — to point toward
  21. fork — in a road
  22. face — part of the head
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fall — to drop

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