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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · root · face · saw · land · perch · clip · march

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. land — to come down
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. face — part of the head
  7. root — of a plant
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — for paper
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. land — ground
  16. saw — the tool
  17. face — to confront
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. land — a country
  20. march — music
  21. face — to point toward
  22. root — the cause
  23. march — the month
  24. root — of a word

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