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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 · land · wake · bound · march · stem · bat · perch

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. bound — obliged
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — a trail
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. march — music
  19. bound — certain
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bound — tied together
  22. perch — the fish
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to confront

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