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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 116 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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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: chair · perch · cap · spring · track · lie · fall · wound

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. track — a path
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — a lid
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. perch — the fish
  7. spring — the season
  8. track — a song
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chair — a leader
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — of water
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — to recline
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chair — a professorship

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