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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: face · wind · kid · shower · perch · hand · cue · patient

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cue — for pool
  6. face — part of the head
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — in cards
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — child
  17. cue — a hint
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. face — to point toward
  23. shower — rain
  24. kid — to tease

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