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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: lie · stem · perch · foot · march · kid · last · present

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stem — to come from
  3. march — music
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. foot — a measure
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. march — the month
  8. perch — the fish
  9. last — final
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kid — child
  13. present — there
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. present — the time now
  17. march — the month
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. last — finally
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. present — a gift
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. last — to go on
  24. lie — to recline

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