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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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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: press · perch · cue · wound · rest · kid · lean · cold

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. kid — child
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — the fish
  8. cold — an illness
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cue — a signal
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. lean — thin
  13. press — to push
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cue — for pool
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cue — a hint
  21. lean — to bend
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — the Cold War

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