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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.

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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: march · perch · cold · present · sharp · stem · race · season

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. race — humankind
  4. present — a gift
  5. cold — not warm
  6. present — there
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. march — the month
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. march — the month
  15. perch — the fish
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. stem — to come from
  19. march — music
  20. race — a contest
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. season — in sport

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