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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.

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: capital · chair · fan · tube · face · perch · wound · content

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. perch — the fish
  8. face — to point toward
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to confront
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. capital — a city
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. capital — money

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