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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: court · cold · branch · kick · perch · rock · rule · face

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. face — part of the head
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. face — to point toward
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rock — a stone
  10. court — of a king
  11. rock — music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rule — government
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rule — a law
  22. face — to confront
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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