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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: rest · game · perch · face · clip · wake · chip · field

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. face — to point toward
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. face — to confront
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chip — to eat
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. field — for sport
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. clip — a video
  13. field — a subject
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rest — a break
  16. game — wild animals
  17. face — part of the head
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. game — a match
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rest — what's left
  22. perch — the fish
  23. field — farmland
  24. chip — for betting

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