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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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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: face · land · perch · present · straw · prune · sharp · tear

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. tear — to rip
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. face — to confront
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. present — a gift
  12. sharp — clever
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — ground
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. land — a country
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. land — to come down
  20. present — there
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. present — the time now
  24. tear — from crying

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